Hitchhiked for the first time with the power of positive thinking, before being reunited with friends from the Kiwi Bus, and on to building a drift wood beach fire at Westport
Distance: Walk 2km, hitchhiking, 13km, bus, 240km
Total Distance: 3715km
Early start to start the walk back to Kaiteriteri where the Kiwi Experience bus was. 12km to walk. It wasn't far having done Abel Tasman, but then it was far having just done Abel Tasman. Another 12km by 11:30am? Only if I have to.
The power of positive thinking is a great thing. No, I'm not turning into a hippy. Well, maybe I am. Anyway, as a Briton hitchhiking seemed like such a strange concept. As I walked a few cars passed me and I sheepishly put out a thumb. Nothing. Fair enough, I wouldn't stop either. Then I remembered how far it was. Hitchhiking is something that happens a lot here, a few people see the whole country that way. I deserved to be picked up. Plenty of people would be going my way. Stand tall, put out a thumb and grab a ride, easy.
As soon as I'd decided on a positive attitude the next car to pass picked me up. That simple. See, The Power of Positive thinking. I'll stop being a hippy now.
They were a German couple in a rental car exploring NZ. We had a chat about living here and their travels before parking in Kaiteriteri. We said our good byes, Merry Christmas, and my thanks, then they went off for breakfast. I went off to the hostel and to find the KE crew.
The Europeans I was on the north of the North Island were there! I never though I'd see them again, the times weren't going to match up. But with a few extra days they'd reached this point just before Christmas and stayed. It's been great being back with them, catching up and joking around like we did a week ago. There's also a solid Northern British contingent here so I've had a good few chats with them too, catching up with home news and views, as well as the usual crap Young British lads talk.
Our new bus driver is called Flea (aka Felicity), and has been driving for KE for years. She now has a photography business, but takes a bus or two at busy times of year, as well as doing the promo photos for KE. Hence she has a great camera and was always looking for perfect shots of us all.
Today we were travelling to the ex-gold mining town of Westport, famous for surfing. On the way we stopped off at a Lake. Here we all jumped off the jetty as its a great view, getting Flea a fair few shots of us jumping.
Then they attacked.
There was a colony of BIG eels hiding under the jetty, in the shade. One of the Danish guys was trying to climb out of the water onto the jetty when he kicked one. Three times. Idiot. The eel sunk its 3 rows of teeth into the top of the inside of his thigh. It didn't take a full bite, just a nip. Enough to draw blood, leaving a nice mark in a nice place for him to show off by lifting the leg of his swimming shorts in a worrying manner.
After that everyone was much more careful, keeping away from the school near the jetty. Well, everyone but moi. I took my waterproof camera and went down to get some blurry videos of them sitting around. As I had seen done in the Waitomo caves I also splashed the water surface. They all stared at me. 2 big ones began to move towards me. I backed off.
At the end of the day we got to Westport, once one of New Zealand's largest towns, during the years of the gold rush. However some fool decided to put all of the spoils from the mines into the harbour, blocking it up, leaving Westport with minimal gold and no port. It's now a little town with a large coal mine, which was mentioned to us as they recently had one of NZ's largest mining disasters there, with over 30 men killed, but due to the poisonous gases down there their bodies have still not been recovered.
We stayed in a nice hostel, finding our beds and having a spot of dinner before taking our KE coach down to the beach. Here we saw the sun set and a golden full moon rise whilst sat around a drift wood fire. I shared a box of beers with the Danish guys, chatted some more with the Brits, and caught up with the friends I'd started KE with. It was a good night, finished off with a quick trip to the local pub.
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