Onward to NZ

Our stay in Australia over, I have traveled to New Zealand. How can I describe it? It's a land that I would like to marry and settle down with, filling the rest of my days exploring all the little sheep-dotted hillsides, pebbly beaches, and rich green mountains.

I haven't even really been here very long. I spent the first night here in a cheap motel in Auckland run by an Indian family. They were lovely and it was reasonable for the price, but it was definitely not a place that inspired rest. Early the next morning a shuttle driven by a woman named Ngaia took me to Hamilton and I disgraced myself by falling asleep. Fortunately, I am both a discreet and fetching sleeper. I was deposited at the AsureQuality office and met with Byron and chatted a bit over some needed coffee. Drip coffee this time. Kiwis apparently aren't as picky about their coffee as the Aussies. We drove over to the Plant and Food Research Apicultural division and I met Byron's wife Michelle who works on varroa-resistant bees and her boss Mark who gave me his opinion on everything bee-related and un-bee-related, particularly Australia, USA, and why New Zealand is superior to those countries.

I had almost run out of brain power by the time we got back to AsureQuality. I was ready to go to bed, but I still had a 4 hour drive to Napier ahead of me. Byron kindly drove me to the Airport to pick up my car and reminded me about the unique Kiwi road rules such as no left on red and yield to oncoming right-turners when you're taking a left. They love the roundabout in this country, too. Every intersection spins you like a merry-go-round, exits shooting off the center circle like so many bicycle-wheel spokes.

I got on the road by 4pm, driving an exceedingly cheap Australian-made car. I found out that the kiwi definition of "highway" apparently is "lonely two-lane track through nowhere." So strange to drive so far without the comforting presence of other drivers. I guess that’s what I feel like I’m doing here- striking out on my own despite the fact that I don’t really know anyone in this country, don’t know if I can get a job in this country, don’t know where I’m going in this country on this little highway in the dark. No one driving my way to encourage me, to say, “Yup, you’re going the right way!” Strange stars hang in the sky as I stop to take a look around in the dark. They are useless to navigate by. But I see a shooting star, and think, with a sigh, that it’s not a bad road that I’m on anyway.

I arrive after some delay finding my hotel in Napier. The hotel manager offers me "trim milk" and a newspaper. Then he has me park my car in a tiny little spot on the corner of the hotel. He crosses my own personal courtyard and opens big French windows to a small efficiency apartment, complete with mini-range, mini-fridge, mini-bar with mini-stools, mini-sink, mini-cupboards, mini-microwave, mini-tv, etc. He stashes the milk in the fridge for me and bids me goodnight. Everything in my room is tastefully selected from Ikea. Clean, simple, warmly well-lit. I open the door to the bathroom and I am greeted by a large, lavatorial refuge, soothing colors, a new shower, and multiple mirrors. There are premium soaps. There is an abundance of nice towels. I am in heaven. Then I walk out and notice that there is something hanging from the side of the bed. The controls for my electric blanket. How far did I have to come for this? It doesn’t matter.

First day of Australia

We arrived in Melbourne this morning, travel-weary and bereft of Tuesday. Mike Shepski, the state director for Student Life (Campus Crusade in Australia) and a Penn State grad, collected us from the airport and took us to his home so we could shower off the stench of 16.5 hours on a plane, nourish ourselves with coffee, and email our loved ones, thus regaining much of our humanity lost on the long journey from LA.

We squeezed back into the car to head to Melbourne University campus. As far as I can tell, Melbourne University is a cross between Hogwart's, Harvard, and Penn State. Later, we headed over to Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) to hang out with the Crusade undergrad summer project team doing an outreach in front of the RMIT 'caf' (Cafeteria). Blood sugar levels dangerously near zero, we walked across the street to Melbourne Central, a train station/mall. There we were fortified by delicious Malay cuisine before moving on to our next meeting at University House to meet with Malcom and Sandy who are involved with post-grad (grad student) ministry at Melbourne. University House is a private club for faculty and staff at the university with a fine sitting room where we sipped tea and hot chocolate and felt much like Britons.

(Parenthetically: Ash and I have just determined that we have been awake or engaging in what passes as sleep on a plane for the past 48 hours. Our insanity has begun to thicken and solidify like pudding. If this entry doesn't seem very coherent, that is why.)

Malcom and Sandy were delightful and we really enjoyed meeting with them while the rain began pouring down in earnest outside. Dodging the rain, we met up with our hosts James and Jane, at the train station. As the day closed we found ourselves running on fumes, and used our train ride to learn how to use Aussie phrases like "No Worries" inappropriately to random strangers. Now our kind hosts have fed us and tried their darndest to keep us awake with conversation. However, motor skills and language are beginning to fail me and I must go to bed, even though it's only 8:24pm. Look forward to more interesting/less erratic updates tomorrow.