Auckland
Took a lot of hassle, but I got to Simon's flat around midnight. I'm going to stay here again tonight and possibly tomorrow night as well, before continuing my pilgrimage to Cape Reinga. Because I have started to think of it as a pilgrimage.

Cash is starting to be a bijou worryette, but thankfully I have a musical instrument and am no stranger to busking. I'll be grand! I did some busking today with Josh, Simon's flatmate, and Mark, flatmate of Chloe, who's Simon's next door neighbour and girlfrend. Here's a photo taken by a random passer-by in Queen St:


I'm the one with the hat on, the gentleman with the accordion is Mark, and the blue shirted fellow is Josh.

And on Monday and Tuesday I'll be busking in far north towns where buskers are a rare sight indeed. That could well work in my favour.


I hung around in Taupo rather longer than I should have, but I needed the R&R. Seriously, by the time we got to Taupo my arse was killing me, and the lack of oxygen (Dale wasn't really one for winding the window down) was making me feel rather shitty.

Hitching out of Taupo requires one to walk up a hill outside the town. Pain in the arse, but the view's great!


My first ride was with a German gentleman named Friedemann. He was only able to take me a few kilometers up the road as he was going to some obscure place near Rotorua. So, he dropped me at the junction of State Highways 1 and 5.


Looking south...


...and looking north.

About this time I was joined briefly by a rather cool (and hard as fuckin' nails) Maori girl named Jules. She'd been hitching since the previous morning. She'd hitched all the way from Bluff. Bluff is the town at the very bottom of the South Island. That's pretty fuckin' impressive!

Jules and I were picked up first by a woman called Lorraine, who took us to some little town the name of which I can't remember. When she dropped us off, she gave us each a beer! Shortly thereafter, a bloke named John picked us up. He was going as far as Cambridge. Jules was going to Auckland (seriously, Bluff to Auckland in two days! Holy shit!) but elected to be dropped off at Tokoroa, to visit some relatives and get drunk.

Once I'd been dropped off at Cambridge, it was getting dark, and I was starting to think along the lines of finding a backpacker hostel, but decided to press onward.


St Andrew's Church in Cambridge at dusk.

In Cambridge I was picked up by a crazy American woman and her Kiwi husband. Didn't get their names. But they were so good to me - they were going to Hamilton, and puon arriving took me all over the city looking for accommodation. But everywhere was full, so I had to plod onwards.

They dropped me at a bus stop on the outskirts of Hamilton, where I'd have a good chance of getting a ride. Less than a minute after they dropped me off, a car pulled up and out stepped none other than the aforementioned Jules. After about five minutes, a guy who spoke almost no English picked us up. Jules got out in some part of the outskirts of Auckland, and I was dropped off at this guy's mate's house in Otahuhu, which is an obscure part of the arse end of Auckland. I had absolutely no idea how to get to the city from there.

I ended up getting to Simon's flat by taxi. HUGE thanks to Simon for spotting me the taxi ride, that was very very cool of him.

So, as I said, I'll be here one or two more nights, then heading further northward into terra incognita.

Love you all buckets and buckets!

Goodnight! :)



EDIT: I forgot to mention, I have indeed been hitching wih my towel visibly draped over my shoulder. I'm hoping a Douglas Adams fan will get the joke and pick me up. So far, this has not happened. I'll let you all know as soon as it does.