Taupo!

---

Sorry It's been so long, but ever since the baseball season started, I've been spending my few minutes online reading about that. It is currently 9 15 on Friday the 11th of April, and I'm in Taupo. I've been here since Sunday, and I'll run down as much of what has happened in my life the last 3 weeks as I can remember. (There was a lot)

I last wrote on Wednesday the 26th, I believe, and I worked everyday from the 25th-5th. The applepicking was very good, and I made probably $1500 in those two weeks. On the 28th, I was kicked out of the Aladdin (It is no longer called the Aladdin, by the way. They ripped the sign down.) for some unknown reason, and me and David had to scramble to find places to live. David decided to not work anymore, and moved to Palmerston North on Saturday. I moved in with two Czechs I was working with, and slept on a mattress in the living room til I left. It was sweet because I didn't have to pay any rent (long story). On Friday night, before David left, we drove down to Ocean Beach (stunning) and up to Te Mata peak, the highest mountain in the area. It is literally just a jagged rock reaching up out of the ground. Just driving up there would be hard for those afraid of heights. We were driving next to a sheer cliff that dropped maybe 500 yards. It was kind of cool. I was driving, and David kept getting nervous and making me drive as far away from the cliff as possible. We were up there right as the sun set, and it felt as if you could see for 100 miles, which was probably the case. I'll never forget the views, and especially the idea that everything west of the mountain was still in sunlight, while the ocean to the east was very dark. I kept thinking about the Bob Seger song "Roll me Away" and the line in it "Stood there on a mountaintop, staring out at the great divide

On Saturday, I moved in with the Czechs, and I spent all last week working with them everyday and then hanging out everyday night at our place. I had 7 roommates there.. the 2 chechs, 4 indonesians, and a malaysian, and it was interesting to watch them cook. With so many people living there, it had a real hostel feel to it. Also, I found out that Indonesians don't use toilet paper, but that is enough about that.

On my last night at the house, on Saturday the 5th, I went out with the Malaysian and the Czechs to the cru bar in hastings because they were having a bikini contest. That, to say the least, was an experience. As I have said, Hastings is a country town, and the people there, especially the guys, were a sight. It felt a little like West Virginia. The girls were kind of pretty, but I didn't really pay that much attention because I got in a hot run with one of the Czechs on the pool table. I have been playing so much pool here. Literally every night I do anything, it ends up with pool. We ended up staying out all night and I didn't get home until 5 and my bus was scheduled for 7 30. I wasn't packed, so I stayed up and packed for the bus. I was actually home well before the Czechs. One of them strolled in at about 6 15, and the other one hadn't come home yet when the Malaysian dropped me off at the bus station. He texted me later in the day, and here is the gist of his text: He woke up at about 9, and realized he was outside. On top of that, he realized he was on top of a building. He walked to the edge of the building- it was 4 stories high. He then noticed that he had a bag of fries in his right hand, and his left hand was completely bloody. After climbing down the fire escape, he got nervous and reached into his pocket for his wallet. Luckily, it was there, and he was astounded to find over $500. And finally, he had a 1.5 hour walk back to our house because he had no idea where he was. Gotta love it. Goodbye, Hastings.

I'll post an update from Taupo as well as pictures from the last month or so in the next couple days. Hope all is well.

By the way, the cubs are on a 5 game winning streak.

---