3/1/14
I can hardly belive that it has been over a month since I have last written anytihng for this blog. It feels like it's only been week and and in the same moment lifetimes. Thank you Trevor Richards for inspiring me to sit down and write mine out. Trevor is a really good friend of mine who is currently on a motor cycle in South America, his blog is http://wp.me/p4fQ4h-2K, if you think what I am doing is adventurous I encourage you to read his latest story. :)
My time since Raglan has been....? Well if Raglan was a test of who I thought I was and a check in with my intention for being here than my time spent in Nelson has been a confermation and a test of my dedication to this path. These next few entries will be the short version of my long road from Raglan to Nelson.
My last day in Raglan was the 5th of February, and from there I traveled with good friends south, to New Plymouth. I was a drifter, just along for the ride and the experience. I was traveling with surfers and this was a surf trip. We were all hoping for good swell at the famous point break Stent Road and hopefully good beach breaks where we would be free camping in New Plymouth.
The four hour drive south along highway 3 wasn't breathtaking but it was lovely. Moving from steep mountain passes to open plains, with the ocean on our right, massive mount Taranaki on our left, and warm sun in our smiling faces. We met up with some friends who had already been staying there for a week and they quickly told all of us how epic the surf had been. Thomas, from France, Tom, from the UK, Danny and Brandon, from the US could not wait for the next day. They slipped into their wet suits and ran down the sandy cliffs to catch the last 20 min of sunlight. After their surf session we all had a big dinner and hoped that we would be okay in the spot for the night. I was not feeling well so I went to my tent shortly after dinner. One of the less glamerous things about traveling is that sooner or later you will end up getting sick. Well, this night was the night. I will spare you the details but I had caught the twenty four hour flu. I was up most of the night with fever sweats and that “oh did I just shit my pants” feeling. Let me tell you, this experience is much more difficult to deal with when you are in a one person tent, the nearest toilet is a bush, and your toilet paper is a McDonalds take out bag you found in the same bush. For those same reasons it makes it much more easy to laugh at your situation and just deal with it, insead of feeling sorry for yourself. :) Add it to the list of things that I will never take for granted.
The next morning I walked to the nearest bathroom, a kilometer away, to take a sink shower and wash my things. When I returned to camp the surfers were angry at me for keeping them from the surf and anxious to get going. When I told them how my night went they smiled and became a bit more understanding :)
After a breakfast of pancakes we made the 30 min drive to Stent Road. The swell was descent and the wind was offshore (this is a good thing). More importantly there wasn't another surfer in the water. This point break was world famous and these boys had it all to themselves. They didn't waste a moment jumping in. I was still feeling pretty shit at this point so I took the opportunity to get some more sleep in one of the vans. I slept like a rock. When everyone got back they woke me, what seemed like a few minutes of sleep had actually been two hours, I felt much better. The rest of the day was pretty chill. We drove back to New Plymouth and posted up in our new spot for the night. A park on the east end of New Plymouth, right on the beach. By this time I was feeling pretty much one hundred percent and I cooked dinner as everyone made a fire and a chill spot on the beach. That night on the beach had its own kind of magic, and we were all up giggling late into the night.
The next day the surf was flat so we went into town to use the internet at the library. I booked my bus ticked for the next day and prepared myself for my journey south. Our good byes were bitter sweet. We had all shared so much experience together in Raglan. Most of us had been together for a month or longer, which when your traveling is ages, but this was it, some of us may never see each other again outside of facebook. There were hugs and kisses, and some awkward silences but finally the bandaid was ripped and I was off. Finally on my way to Wellington to catch my ferry to the south island of New Zealand.
