Dispatch From The North (Oct. 20 – 21)

Andrew has insisted that I finally take a turn at this blog writing thing and suggested that I write the “farewell to the South Island” post. It’s not his worst idea, actually, as teary goodbyes are one of my specialties. We had a nice send-off from Arapawa with all the remaining Radons waving goodbye from the wharf as we sailed back to Picton (all except for James, who was already pre-occupied with the blue motorbike).

Andrew and I say farewell to Arapawa Island

From Picton we headed to Blenheim to spend one last evening with the boys from Renaissance Brewing, barbecuing with Brian, his fam, and Andy and his giant children. Seriously, who is going to cook for us on the North Island? Brian made a very nice toast to Andrew for all his efforts to spread the Renaissance beer gospel on the South Island. It makes us feel as though we’ll be missed on the Mainland. Here’s hoping the Renaissance guys make a good fist of it, and if/when we return to NZ, we’ll return to an even bigger operation.

The next morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast, and spent a few hours entertaining the kids (OK I entertained the kids while Andrew watched the Springboks beat the Pommies in the Rugby World Cup final) before heading through Picton once again, this time to catch our ferry back to the North Island and civilization, more or less. Several months ago I would have really been looking forward to the trip back to the North Island, since the closer we got to Auckland, the closer we would be to our trip home. In June, while toiling in the vineyards of Marlborough, I had decided that I had had enough of the backpacker lifestyle. I even made a few teary phone calls home and started making alternate (albeit implausible) plans to go to Oktoberfest or Barcelona. I managed to stick it out, however, and now our departure date of December 2^nd seems to be approaching all too rapidly.

Andrew enjoys the calm seas on the ferry

All in all we spent eight months traveling around the South Island, north and south, east and west, looping over track numerous times. We didn’t really have a set-in-stone itinerary, which becomes painfully obvious when you look at our Jauntlet map. But for us much of the adventure of the trip was in not really having a plan. People have asked where we spent our time in the South, and all we can really say is “all over.” I tried to retrace our route in my mind while the ferry slowly moved through Tory Channel, but only got as far as our flight from the dirty flat in Wanaka before I was distracted by our final trip past Arapawa Seafarm (second house from the end as you head into Cook Strait). For the most part, time has seemed to move very quickly, although we could look at certain pieces of the trip (see Lemon Tree Cafe) as being interminably long. The details will soon start to fade, and soon we’ll only remember the good bits.

Our final glimpse of Arapawa Seafarm as we return to the North Island

Moving away from more philosophical ponderings, arriving in Wellington again it was a bit surreal to find ourselves back on George’s doorstep (see CouchSurfing) after having first met him in February. We stayed with him shortly before our departure from the North Island, when all the best parts of our trip were still ahead of us in the South Island. Now we have less than two months to go until we leave New Zealand for good (or at least until the 2011 Rugby World Cup). George was just as we remembered him: friendly, talkative, enthusiastic. Since we saw him last, he had visited the states, went kayaking in Fiji, had a relationship, switched departments at work, and torn down all the gib (drywall) in the guest bedroom. He even found the time to sew a prototype of his new blanket, which we are certain will turn the blanket industry on its head for years to come. What have you done with your last eight months, whew! We spent a cruisey night in the capital splashing out for thai takeaways and chai gelato for dessert (this counts as really living it up for us).

George's amazing blanket! (patent pending)

After watching Borat, Andrew and I crashed on our respective couches. On our first visit George’s living room was dominated by a queen-sized bed set up to accommodate guests. It has since found a new home – in someone else’s home – so we took the couches, making this perhaps our first actual “couch” surfing experience in NZ). The next morning we woke up early to beat the morning crowds at the local cafes. George knows all the best places for brunch with a view and took us to Maranui Surf Club Café for pancakes with bacon and banana (an NZ specialty… you should try it!). Then we hit the road north. We’ve had to say quite a few goodbyes in this country already, and I’ve already shed quite a few tears. I can only imagine my reaction when we get on the plane in Auckland. But we’ve got heaps of time til then, literally weeks!

A couch with a view, from George's living room window