5:27 p.m. - 2002-03-18
The great non-white north.
"You'll have to excuse me, I'm not at my best,
I've been gone for a month, I've been drunk since I left.
These so called vacations will soon be my death,
I'm so sick from the drink, I need home for a rest."
These words have rung true for me all day long.
Ok, so I haven't been drunk since I left, but I had a pretty crazy St. Patrick's Day and boy am I feeling it today. I now have a lot more sympathy for those who experience car sickness on a regular basis. The bus ride this morning was just not agreeing with me.
Yeah, it was a good night last night. Kikki, Charlotte and I started off at a hostel bar not far from us where we were meeting our friend Rich and his American friend. We stayed for a while, drank beer and then went pub hopping. There are quite a few Irish pubs in Auckland (did I mention I got back to Auckland yesterday? I didn't? Ok, well, I got back to Auckland yesterday...). Anyhow, we went to a few Irish pubs, then back to the hostel bar for second happy hour. We ended up staying there and Rich and I participated in this quiz game which was basically just an excuse to give away free shots. No complaints here. Rich grabbed one of the canisters that held the alcohal and just started pouring out the shots. They weren't that strong, but after 7 or 8, I was starting to get full. Eventually, the party all left and I went back to my hostel at 2 o'clock in the morning, knowing that I would have to wake up in 4 and a half hours for my trip up north. Oy, that wasn't a warm, fuzzy feeling, let me tell you.
As for the plan of a relaxing trip up north, that's not really happening. Apparently, buses don't run north of this town called Kaikaia, or something to that effect, and it's just not as far north as I wanted to go. So, I'm on the Kiwi Experience bus again, with jam packed days of excitement and late night/early mornings. Woo hoo.
No, it's actually good. It's only for a couple of days, and the trip up to the northern tip of the island should be fun. And I may yet get to swim with dolphins, providing the weather doesn't screw me once again.
Right now, I'm in a town called Paihia, which is a quaint, little town in the northern part of the island. I got here this afternoon (after a less than fun, 4 hour bus ride) and immediately took a nap in my hostel. So, at this moment, I'm both groggy from sleeping, and totally awake. And hungry. Very hungry. And, damnit, there isn't a McDonald's!!! (It's such perfect food for empty, gurgling stomachs).
With that epiphany of hunger, I think I'm going to go have dinner now.
Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone.
xxx ooo
