The Adventures of Ye Olde C-Dog

I forgot to check where my classes actually were, so had to get up early this morning. Turns out all the indigenous studies ones are on south campus, and Spanish is in the north campus. So I guess I’ll stay at Tinsley seeing as I have to walk to Liberal Arts four times a week.
I had Intro to Indigenous this morning. We have take home exams, yay! But our final is to be handed in on the 11th, so I have one whole day to get my shit packed up and out of Tinsley. Great news!
I got an email back from one of the job applications I put in for, in the phone centre. The hours are suitable to me so I will phone her for an interview. Yay! Phone fundraising, I hope I can do it.
I got an email from Scotty, he didn’t say anything about the butchers giving him hass for our night out. Good. He seemed to miss me! Got an email from Brendan as well, which is cool, because I had been thinking about him.
Off to my next class shortly.

This is an email I just wrote to Henning.

Ho bebe.

what is the hap? i was going to write you a letter but realised that you were probably in Paki. I’ve been reading mills and boon as is appropriate for long stays in cruddy backpackers. So naturally I’ve been romanticising our relationship and thought to write to you and see what is the hap, and let you know what is the hap for me.

Since I spoke to you in Auckland I’ve been aroond and aroond. I met some people in Devonport which is like a cross between Cottesloe and Freo. I was walking down the street and a middle aged Scottish bloke said “hey pigtails! did you make those yourself?” and i’d suddenly made 10 new friends and am off to stay with that Scotty John tomorrow night. A couple from the table took me out that night and I woke up in a public toilet at half past midnight. I hadn’t lost a thing! Quite an achievement I would have thought. What a walk back to the backpackers.

Auckland was still happening at 9am Sunday morning when I walked to the bus stop, which is outside this casino which has a huge tower next to it. I guess it’s Auckland’s version of the Bell Tower but it is much higher and people bungy off it. I went to Hamilton on Sunday as a stopover on my way to Raglan. Hamilton is a hole. There were some nice botanical gardens and a christmas parade but there’s no way I’d ever stay there again.

Monday I caught the bus to Raglan and stayed with Brent at the surf club for two nights. Raglan is a surfing town, and the surf club beach is the learner’s beach, so it was good for swimming. They have a surf school set up there. I spent hours sitting in rock pools reading. I actually found myself getting a bit wound up and anxious about how lonely I felt. Brent is a great guy, quite inspirational for me. He is really healthy. He has his life set up, working on the beach in summer and then heading overseas to work and travel every year. He is so calm and sure of himself without being at all arrogant. He chopped down my barriers to the point where I realised how unhappy I was and nearly collapsed. He has been really supportive for some reason. I am going to see him at Piha in a couple of days, near Auckland.

I have only been eating once a day. I don’t feel hungry but have been getting the shakes every now and then. Could be lack of vitamins/too much beer/cigarettes/anxiety. Not sure. Brent and another guy I met, Gypsy Bob, have advised me to go to a doctor. I’ve had a few heart pains as well.

On wednesday I took the bus back to Hamilton and then through to Te Kuiti. I stayed on a farm which was really beautiful. It was a relief to be out of the backpackers scene which I think is really constrained and predictable. There was a guy, John, who’d lived in Aussie for 10 years and he shouted me a box. We got onto everything, politics, food (he cooked me mussels), sexual abuse. This has been coming up in my head a lot lately as well as the bullying I experienced as a child.

On Thursday I went caving at Waitomo. I went abseiling which was freaky as. Tubing through the dark, lots of gloworms. Squeezing through caves which was lots of fun and then rockclimbing, another freak out. It was pretty cool, testing my limits. But I was with two older couples so I felt a bit out of place.

After the caving, I went back to Te Kuiti to try my luck hitching to Rotorua. I’d been sitting for 10 minutes or so and a young guy came up and starting chatting to me. He offered me to come over for a cuppa but I was wary. After a while the rain was getting to me and I thought what the hell, so I went in. He lived in a shed with his dad. Asher, he’s 17. He had some interesting stories though he seemed a bit slow. He showed me a few bits of jewellery and sculptures that his dad made out of copper. An hour or so later and his dad walked in – Gypsy Bob. What a wonder. We spent the night drinking Speights, listening to Janis Joplin and making bracelets. He took me for a ride on his trike through the forest – woohoo!! 140k/h through winding roads. Asher and Bob shared their life stories with me, they sure have a lot of wisdom to share. They even drove me two hours out of Te Kuiti so I could get closer to Rotorua – got picked up in 10 mins.

It’s alright here. I’m being fed venison by the Korean owners of the motel I’m at. I get free mud packs and a room to myself.

My internet is running out so I just want to say, please email me and let me know what is going on for you. I do miss you and want to give you a hug.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx C

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