When I first arrived in Taupo a little over a month ago, Genna told me how people get stuck here. Not in a bad way like people get stuck in Great Yarmouth, but in the way that they fall in love with Taupo and never want to leave. Now I know what she meant.
In the week just gone, lots of movies were watched and tea drank. Thursday was very exciting since Genna, Brad and I went out on the Barbary, a yacht formerly owned by Errol Flynn , which now does 2 hour outings making a really great way to see the lake. Originally, I wanted to see the Maori carvings, but since the wind was so strong we couldn't go out there. What we did see was beautiful though, and since the water was so rough I was glad to have waterproofs on, even if they weren't the most flattering. The size XXL trousers combined with the massive jacket, all in bright yellow, did make me look like an inflated banana, but I was dry! (Which is more than I can say for Brad!) After some Titantic-esque posing (pictures to follow) and managing to drink a glass of wine with minor spillages, one of which was on my face, I got chatting to one of the girls working on the boat. Turns out she was from Kings Lynn! Bloody small world it is. Good to have someone one my side though when the bloody Kiwi's took the piss out of me saying I needed to "pop home." Perfectly legitimate use of the English language, honestly!
Thursday night was messy. Pre-drinking at Genna's place consisted of the boys kicking Doris around the front room. Doris is a headless, limbless plastic mannequin found in the lake and thus proclaimed as Ben's new girlfriend. So by this point (around 9pm...) I was around a bottle and a half of wine in and feeling pretty good. Got all dressed up in Genna's lush blue dress and gorgeous killer heels and we went into town. Now in all honesty, the heels didn't last long. I can walk in killer heels, but not after lots of wine and two coronas, it just doesn't happen. So a bit of stumbling later, and (un)gracefully falling into Brad's arms, I decided it was time to lose the shoes and have a little dance without them. And there it was, I was that girl who had taken off her high heels to dance. Disaster. I'm not so sure I remember leaving, but Friday whilst Gen was at work me and Brad watched Jeremy Kyle and ate Subway - successful day.
Friday I left Taupo after a slightly tearful goodbye coffee with Di. I got a lift with Genna up to Tirau to meet up with Kathy, well I ended up driving because Gen was slightly worse for wear. Driving in New Zealand is pretty much the same as driving in the UK, except they have a weird give way rule. If you're turning left, you don't have right of way, the cars who are turning across traffic do. So weird. Anyhow, met up with Kathy and dropped my stuff off at the farm. The little farmhouse reminded me so much of Paul's place, not because of the layout or anything but because Kathy is making it fit to live in, similar to what Mum's been doing to Paul's place. But it was a really lovely little place. We went to Okoroire Pub, a little tiny village type pub, and I won a game of pool! I know, miracle right? Especially as in Queenstown I could hardly hit the ball. However, my win wasn't really on skill, more on a technicality, but if it's a win I'll take it! Couple of berry ciders later and word had travelled around the small pub that I was from Norfolk, after which I met Chris from Suffolk and another guy from Norfolk. Such a small world! The obligatory "Ohh, can't be seen talking to you..." was exchanged between me and Chris and I volunteered my (very limited) football knowledge in the Norwich/Ipswich argument that of course followed.
On Saturday morning we went into Tirau to a cafe where Grahme's daughter Estelle worked. We had a little look around the shops in Tirau, including a shop exclusively of Christmas decorations that's open all year... surely that doesn't do a roaring trade in July? After a cup of tea and meeting Estelle, we went to pick up some of my stuff and headed over to Estelle's place, a house in Putaruru that she shares with 3 others. The drinking started at 1pm, sitting on the roof drinking wine. When Estelle's housemates got home we went to the liquor store and proceeded to sit in the sun and drink even more, followed by 2 games of Ring of Fire and at one point there was pizza? I dunno. Such a good night though! It did make me think, however, about the funny twists that my trip takes. How did I end up on the first floor roof of a house in Putaruru with people I've never met? Craziness!
Oh, I also made the decision to go back to Taupo in the morning. Okay, Gen made the decision when I called her up and asked her what to do. I can't keep away from the place, I've left twice and I'm back again. So back to Auckland on Wednesday!
Getting back to Taupo yesterday it was unbelievably hot! We went to Morgan's baby shower in the morning and spent the afternoon laying in the sun... two days in a row and I'm not burnt, what is this madness?! We ended up getting burger and chips for dinner and sat in the botanical gardens to eat, with a lovely view over Lake Taupo, then headed off to meet Haley at the hot pools for a soak and a chat. After being so relaxed that my heart might have actually stopped, we got in bed and watched Eclipse... relaxed relaxed relaxed.
No comments:
Post a Comment