My last day in Auckland I did laundry, packing, and crying. I asked my hosts if I could do laundry and she told me she’d let me know when she was done with the washer. Hours later she was nowhere around and I had just been sitting there waiting. That’s what prompted the crying. It’s a silly thing to get upset about, but it just triggered feelings of being unwanted/unwelcomed. So, I think there’s still some stuff around being adopted coming up. Laundry got done and all was fine.
The first day of my 18 day tour of New Zealand was a mixed bag. Most of the people on the bus had been together for the past two days so they all knew each other and I felt left out. More unwanted/unwelcomed. I can recognize that the feelings don’t match what’s really going on, so I just sit with the feelings and notice. That’s all that needs to be done.
The other two new people on the tour are an Italian father and son. The father doesn’t speak English, but still tried to talk to me anyway. Both of them are just so excited to be travelling and grinning ear to ear all day. That helped me feel a little better. The tour included accommodations in hostels, the bus ride, a guide, some of the meals and some of the activities. Most of the activities are add on fees though. “Say yes to everything” is going to cost a lot on this trip. On the first day we did quite a bit of driving and a grocery shopping stop. Then we got to Hot Water Beach. At low tide, a small crack in the earth’s crust creates a warm beach. People get shovels and dig holes in the sand to create small “hot spring pools”. We only stayed there for about a half hour, and there were a lot of people there, but it was neat to see. Some of the water pools were very hot and felt like boiling water. Then we went to the campground in Hahae where we were staying. The rooms were new and pretty nice. I was lucky to get in a room with only one other person. Hahae is a holiday town. Hardly anyone lives there in the winter, but in the summer, a bunch of people holiday there. A bunch of us went on a sea kayaking tour to Cathedral Cove. It was a very expensive tour, but also very beautiful and enjoyable. The weather warmed up nicely for it. Our guide made a salad and bbq for dinner. There’s around 20 people on our bus. Another bus from the same company was also there, but their tour didn’t include food or accommodation or the guide. So they were a big bus, but it’s a hop on hop off bus so they can continue on with it or stay in one place longer and get on the next hop on hop off bus. I’m glad I did my tour instead, but I thought it would be the same people for the whole 18 days. Some started earlier, some will only do the North Island, and I assume new people will join us for the South Island. My roommate for the night is a German lady who is going through cancer treatment. We had some discussions about ATP and she is very interested and thinks I should come to Germany to do some work. So, I wonder, is that what’s next? Because it was a hostel and had two bus loads of people, it was loud, but I still managed to get some sleep.
Day 2 we drove from Hahei to the town where the Hobbiton tours leave from. The activity choices for today were Hobbiton or whitewater rafting. I have no interest in rafting. Yesterday we were told that we couldn’t go to Hobbiton because the bus was full. I would have booked that for after the tour if I had known, but I booked a day tour to do something else. Crap. We can go zorbing instead. Zorbing is where you go rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable hamster ball. I thought that sounded fun. Then when we got to the town we went to the i site and our guide found out he had the wrong information given to him. So, the Hobbiton tour was back on. And Zorbing was still an option. And I have 5 minutes to decide. Ahhhhhhhh…..slight panic…..I can’t do everything. I want to do everything. I can’t do everything. I decided to skip Hobbiton. Zorbing was fun. It was a real short track, but I did it twice. After that we checked into our hotel and some people went to do other things. I went to eat and wander around town. I decided to get a massage. I figured I’d be crying through it since I was close to tears for no reason at all just before the massage. It wasn’t a very good massage so no crying. I left a little more relaxed and my feet felt better so that’s still a win. Tonight we are going to a Maori dinner and show. It sounds like it will be like a luau.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Rraine Drops 