As a new day dawned and the temperature in my tent began to soar, I changed into my togs and went for a dip in the Mighty Waikato. The soothing feeling of cool freshwater engulfing me on a hot summers morning is one of my favourite things. It was so nice to dive into the river and float…
After such madness on the highway, I was looking forward to a bit of relaxation at Conor’s place. He was still up when I got there so we caught up over a few beers and whiskies before he toddled off to bed. In the morning Conor went through a fairly sparse list of chores, which mainly involved feeding the cats (Harry and…
Oh, I do love a punt on sports games; the promise of an instant cash win adds another level of excitement to any match. Hell, I’d watch an under 10’s badminton match if I thought I could eek some dosh out of it. But I find that cricket matches are the best to live-bet on; the natural ebb and…
My next assignment was back up in Auckland; my elder brother, Conor, and his fiancé, Kate, were heading down to Kuratau for a much needed break over new year’s and I had been drafted in to cat/house-sit for a week. The price for putting two cats into a cattery in Auckland is about $30 a day, so by…
Despite our awkward greeting, it was great to see the Germans girls again. Isabella, Inga, Laura, and Lily seemed genuinely pleased to see me too; they’d had a fun but crazy time out east, working and staying with a friendly, mad, alcoholic couple and their newborn baby. But after two weeks they were keen for a bit…
Marty dropped me at the turnoff to highway 23, which would take me to Hamilton and beyond. We hugged it out and said goodbye. Having never hitched before, he dropped me at a fairly dodgy location; just past a sharp corner where oncoming cars wouldn’t see me until they had nearly past. After the fifth car raced by I…
Without a clue what to do, I headed to a campground for the night. I still had cans of food from the start of my journey, plus some cake and other assorted foodstuffs that Steve and Ange had insisted on giving me, so I wasn’t going to starve. Once my tent was up I grew restless so decided to make my…
Raglan is a small beachside town, located about 50km west of Hamilton. It’s mainly populated with surfers, artists, and ageing hippies. The last official census put the number of residents at just under 3000, though locals assure me that due to the prevalent streak of anti authoritarianism that abounds, the true figure was probably double that.…
After the mad stag do and my happy birthday hangover it was time to get stuck into some real work again. I would be helping out my brother and his partner Kate – they own a charming little house in Sandringham and had a bit of work for me to do around the place. The…
After mowing what seemed like half the lawns of Gisborne, I was left with a couple of days before starting at Feast Gisborne. Tina had gone away on one of her many jaunts and my friend Sarah came up from Wellington to visit. Sarah’s from England and had never been to Gisborne, so I would…
No Fixed Abode 