i've been in Raglan for four or five days now. the idea was to get here, surf, relax, think/recap and get ready for the next place. i've been able to do all of that except think/recap. i should have known it'd be impossible to wrap my mind around what i've been through in NZ. it's been good though and it's coming to an end in a very fitting way...
the surf has been garbage but getting better. the currents at the beach have been really really strong and bad weather has been mucking up the surface of the water. subsequently, the same is true of my surf skills. i am now fully aware that i am not, and will likely never be, even a decent surfer without very consistent work at and unfortunately that would me a relocation from Seattle. sadly, i won't be able to rely on my surf skills for income when i get back home like i had hoped. my best days here have been surfing the beach break for awhile, then driving out to the point break and watching, reading and eating.
speaking of reading. down goes another book. this one was "The World According to Garp." it was written by the same guy, John Irving, that wrote the last book i read, "A Prayer for Owen Meany". it was another great read and again, i cruised through it too quickly. i was trying to decide to read Garp or another book i had picked up along the way one night, sat down with Garp to read the first couple pages to get a feel for it and ended up punching out 100 pages after dinner. i've already informed family and friends back home that while i've enjoyed this, this is simply unreasonable to keep up when i get back and that they can expect my ESPN loyalty to remain intact. i just picked up the next book though, "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen. fortunately, it's been graced by Oprah and her
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| that's the stack of books to come. hostels and their book exchanges have been the best find because i can take a book in that i thought is miserable to read and walk out with something great. 1 for 1, that's their only rule. i once exchanged Charles Dickens for a book by comedian Sarah Silverman and was really happy to rid myself of Dickens. that should speak volumes about the quality of material i've been reading. if you have any suggestions for a book, send them my way please because my reading list is empty. |
the return of the Swedes
you read that right, my hitch hiker friends, Vera and Lotta, made it out to Raglan and they even brought friends. last we parted, we were on the South Island, i was headed back north and they were going to hang out in this hippy town, Takaka, for a little bit before doing the same. we spoke hopefully about meeting up in Raglan before they leave for Hong Kong on their way back to Sweden on the May 31 and i head for Singapore and Nepal on June 3. it actually worked out though and it was really good to see them again. they coaxed a German guy, Felix, they met a couple weeks ago into coming out here too. Felix's claim to fame is he grew in the town in Germany where Werther's Orginal was invented. Felix is staying at a hostel in town where he met another guy, Manuel from Germany (Manuel, that's a very German name), that i had met surfing my first day in Raglan on my return trip here. so there was five us; Vera, Lotta, Felix, Manuel and me. all of us were using Raglan as a last stop on the way to Auckland and leaving NZ by June 11. the highlights consisted of dinner and drinks most nights. the last blow out night, we had met for a drink and talked up enough momentum over the idea that this might be out last big night out in NZ that we rushed over to the liquor store before it closed and then headed for my van to drink for a bit before going to the bar. that's right, bar. singular. Raglan is small and only has one bar that stays open late, the Yot Club. it feels like the basement of somebody's house (probably is too) and always has a live band (usually Reggae) and/or DJ on weekend nights. nonetheless, here are the other highlights from the night...
- playing card games, trying to understand the three different accents
- after the bar closed, a local Maori kid saying to his friends, "i'm going to go talk to the hairy guy." and then walking over and sitting down next to me and giving me $3 to go get a beard trimmer. i had a bit of fun back at him and we ended up having a real good laugh between the two of us. it would probably have been a bad idea to give him much lip, his night had consisted of playing in a semi-pro rugby game and going to the bar after. i knew better than to say anything too stupid, he was huge.
- me pitching Lotta over the 8ft fence into the courtyard of the bar where she was able to coax the bartender that was left to close to let the five of us back in for a couple more drinks, on the house.
since that night, the Swedes and Manuel have left for Auckland and home though so it's been pretty quiet. when i make it out to Europe though, i've already promised a trip to Sweden to see them.
that's about it, here are some pictures from the last couple days
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| party in the van. my camera takes terrible pictures in my van. that's Felix and Vera though. |
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| quiet day at the soccer field, seagulls on the goal post. |
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| i drove out to the point break one morning to watch, the swell was supposed to be huge. this guy came running out of the water at 8:30, threw on his helmet, tossed the board in his hand-made scooter-surfboard rack and sped off in a big rush. a guy standing next to me said he had to be at work at 9. |
here's a good article on the town/village i'll be spending most of my time in Nepal in, Panauti, if you want to read about it. coincidentally, there is a Nepalese restaurant in Raglan. i'm going for lunch tomorrow and hopefully i can find some good conversation with the owners about Nepal.
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