I am master of the Atlas, Nick, he's "staying left!"

We go downstairs and ask the man at the desk if he can call us a cab. He asks where to, we show him the address and he says ok. We sit down and wait for the cab, which really only took about 5-10 minutes to get there. The man driving the cab was a bit hard to understand. I think part of it was because he kept rubbing his nose. Maybe he had some sort of tick, I’m not entirely sure. If he wasn’t rubbing his nose he was clicking the turn signal on then off. We found out he was from Fiji and was living in New Zealand because he could make better money. He said he only goes back when it’s something important, like someone died or is sick. He asked us where we were going and we told him. He had a bit of a time trying to understand us too. I even showed him the address because I’d written it down in my little black notebook. He really had no idea and asked Nick to look it up in the Atlas. For some reason he thought it was a different rent a van place and took us there first. We finally go to the correct place and the cab fare was something outrageous like $90, but he only made Nick pa $75. Crazy I tell you. I had to use the bathroom so bad I wasn’t around when this all went down. Luckily he pulled all the way into the place and got stuck because Nick came in and almost sat down at the desk of the rental place and then realized our laptop was still in the trunk. I ran out there, whistled like Mom always did when she was calling us home and told him our computer was in the trunk. He kindly opened it and let me take it out.

Finally, we were at the camper van rental place and starting to get excited. They made us watch a 15 minute video of how the thing works, how to empty the waste, how to turn on the water, gas and all that stuff. Then they told us the rules and made us sign away our first born child. Tough luck on that one buddy! He did mention we could drop the camper off with a full fridge of wine and beer and they wouldn’t be too badly upset about it. Then the man, I think his name was Ahn or something of the like, I heard him say it once, took us outside to look over the camper and show us firsthand how to do everything. I learned well from my Grandma! He was walking around and marking on a sheet of paper all the damage already done to the camper. The ding on the doors, the nicks from rocks being thrown up at it….wait a second there! He completely missed the crack in the mirror on the passenger side. It looked as if someone got too close to a tree branch or something. Anyhow, I spoke up and he wrote it down. I’ve got eyes like a hawk I tell you. Ok, ok mister, just let us get on the road already would you?

Finally on the road. Nick is driving. He’s doing a pretty good job considering he has to keep telling himself, “Keep to the left!” The camper is also manual so it’s a bit tricky. You see, the gears are the same as they are in the states, you’re just shifting with your left hand. Well, all would be easy if you ever drove with my Aunt Brenda or my friend Chris. This is how I learned to shift. I would shift for Aunt Brenda or Chris when they were driving. I have yet to test my abilities of driving in New Zealand and I’m a quite nervous about the whole thing in all honesty. One of us will have to be the designated driver after the wine tastings and being as I can’t partake, it will be me.

Since I’m not driving I’m in charge of the atlas and navigation. I’m not the best candidate for the job…well, I wasn’t if you’d asked me in the US. But here, I’m a master of the atlas and road maps. I hope it will stick when I get home. Who needs GPS anyways!?

We stopped off on a little rest area to get some lunch. We ended up getting burgers. They really weren’t the best but they filled our hunger. I ordered a milkshake with my burger too. Let me just say, a milkshake at that particular place is not like you’d get in the States. Not sure if all places have the same thing, but I still have time to find out. The milkshake was almost like they whipped the milk a bit and then added small chunks of ice. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I expected, so I’m not entirely sure if I’ll brave another go at it. Shortly after we got back on the road I got sort of excited because I saw a road called Bremner Road. I would have taken a picture of it for my mother-in-law but I didn’t see it in time and we were on the freeway going too fast. Nick was pretty excited about it too.

One of the things Nick found most exciting about the scenery as we were driving is how everything looks like it was landscaped. Every tree has its place and looks like it was supposed to be right in that exact place. It truly is a sight to see. There are lush trees all around and then you’re in a place where it looks like rolling hills, and next you’re in an area that looks like stacked rocks all over the place. There’s really nothing like it anywhere I’ve ever been.

We picked up groceries to make dinner. I decided I wanted to try a little Ginger Beer. No worries mates, it’s nonalcoholic! The lady rang it up and then put it where she was putting the groceries for me to load back up into our basket. Silly me, I dropped it and one of the tops came off the bottle. It started to squirt out all over. They told me they would go get me another one, but I insisted on taking the one I damaged. I just drank it when we got to the camper. Not bad, but it was much better later when it was chilled.

Finally we go to our  final destination, Waitomo.