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Published: December 17th 2006
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Laura & Chris
Losing the water war ... Turns out I run Paihia...!!!
Paihia is pretty small and my friend Christina (from London) and I both seem to work at core news centres...at any given moment one of us should be able to give you the low down on pretty much any of the "local" backpackers as we seem to know enough people who know people...we're particularly handy when it comes to spreading rumours although we do try and keep them accurate (when convenient) 😊...it's very weird meeting people and already knowing something about them...am sure some of the information will come in real handy if I ever need cash (numerous blackmail opportunities available)...
Most of the long termers have packed their bags and headed off to explore the rest of New Zealand (and other parts of the world)...I was very sad to see them go...backpacking life is so compacted, you seem to make friends within a couple of minutes and so parting after a few days feels like saying bye to people you've known all your life!!!! No doubt I'll meet up with everybody again!!!
Life as a Gelato scooper continues to be
interesting...we have a couple of local kids who come in daily and ask for a few tasters and then leave the store - we don't mind giving away tasters as it is a sure way of making a sale...if the person has money that is...the other day I had a kid come in and try loads of flavours, leave and then reappear asking for another...as I had sussed out that he was cashless I took my time before getting him the flavour that he wanted, only to be hurried along by the little brat as he wanted his friends to see that he was getting free stuff (he actually told me this), I politely explained that I wouldn't be giving him anymore as I didn't want al his chronies in the store doing the same...our flavours are so good that the employees of the local ice cream store keep stopping by on their bathroom breaks for tasters - not sure that their boss would be too happy if he knew...there seems to be a steady number of South Africans passing through Paihia and I'm always so excited when I get to practice my Afrikaans...the funniest conversation I had started when
Dan, Jess & Jen
Dan & Jen are a couple from the UK...they are currently in Colorado... Jess is from California and is now in Corramandel a grandmother, mother & daughter entered the store speaking Afrikaans, they asked me a question in English and I responded in Afrikaans...I was watching for a reaction on their faces but they just kept chatting normally, I asked where they were from and the grandmother said "South Africa"...ummmmm, we were talking Afrikaans, it was pretty obvious - was so weird, they never seemed to pick up that we weren't speaking English...
At the moment I am sharing a room with Laura (Yorkshire) and Sandra (Germany)...we get along famously which is great...we all like to read before falling asleep and all are to lazy to hop out of bed to switch off the light so we have invented a genius plan which involves Sandra (she sleeps on the top bunk) using a clothes hanger when stretching dangerously over the edge of the bed to flip the switch...would be much quicker (and safer) if I just hopped out and did it manually, but it wouldn't be nearly as funny!!!! Our room smelt like sulphur for a while as a bunch of went to the natural hot pools and the smell has just lingered...
Laura, Natalie (Belgium) and I splurged on
dinner the other night and went to a pizza restuarant...what a shocker: we arrived and asked for a table so were shown to one and then we waited....we finally went and fetched our menus and then went to place our orders at the bar...3 staff members were standing behind the bar and were watching us approach...Natalie made eye contact and asked them how big the medium pizza was, at this point the barman walked away and the manager started talking to the waitress...when she was done talking to the waitress a few minutes later she answered by saying a medium has 6 slices and the large has 8 slices (had obviously heard the question when it was asked)...would have been very informative if we knew how big the slices were!! Natalie wanted a pizza with chicken on it and when she placed the order the manager went into some long explanation about how the chicken suppliers delivery guy hadn't turned up that day...basically they were out of chicken...she then went "sorry I should have told you earlier", yip roundabout the time she didn't give us menus would have been appropriate...The waitress seemed to be unable to smile which helped add
to the friendly atmosphere! When we had finished eating the manager appeared at the table and barked "how was it", we were petrified ...won't be going there again as I prefer not eating in fear!!!!
Had a little exciting adventure the other day when I got locked in the liquor store...the owner is hard of hearing and so didn't hear the bell go off when I entered or even me greeting him...he then locked up in super quick fashion and I had to bang on the glass door to get his attention...would have been a fun night!!!!
The highlight of this week was a trip on the overnight cruise
The Rock . Chris is leaving on Tuesday and so we had to squeeze the trip in before that, it all worked out perfectly and we ended up getting a cleaners discount too. What an awesome trip...if you have time to do just one thing in the Bay of Islands do this!!!!!!! We did so many things from target shooting (I am very bad at this...at least no one was seriously injured), to fishing (I am very good at catching other people's lines and losing my bait...won't do too well on
survivor though), to star gazing, night kayaking & swimming in Phosphoresce (the real name is Dino-something-something 😊 think it's a bacteria or something that lights up when you touch it, so when you're treading water and look down you're whole body is this glowing being...EXQUISITE). Chris and I got up super early to watch the sunrise and also saw some type of shark (though we didn't know that's what they were at the time)...after breakfast we went snorkelling (in freezing water) and saw some awesome fish (they are quite confident and ate mussels out of our hands)...we kayaked to an island with magnificent views and ate lunch on the beach...we also got to eat raw mussels and the eggs of some type of sea urchin (I think)...the crew were awesome and great at making you feel at home and getting everybody involved in activities...I got to practice my Dutch as there were 4 Dutch people on the trip...basically asked people to repeat themselves the entire time! Absolutely loved the whole trip!!!
My little brother Nick is picking me up on Saturday and we'll spend Christmas in Auckland...back in Paihia a few days later ready to work the New Year's
rush...
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Dot - Mez's oldest sister
non-member comment
21 Dec 2006
Hi Mez,its awesome reading what you're up to.Keep the blog going.I am loving Aus and we had an awesome time in Jervis Bay. cant believe that we have a week left and then we head back to South Africa.Missing you stacks. lots of love. Dot