Roosters woke me early. It was a good thing because I wanted to be up early and go geocaching. 36 geocaches on a small island doesn’t sound like many but it’s quite a few, and I’ve barely found half of them after today. It was still early so I did some writing as I had a cuppa and some toast with strawberry jam. On my list today were several caches up near Mt. Pitt and Mt. Bates; seven in all. Catching a lift into town I got a coffee at Café Tempo by Emma’s gregarious personality. Despite it being a gorgeous morning the café was empty; yesterday it was packed even though the weather was a disaster. Some of the breakfasts here seem really tempting though it’d cost a lot to eat out all the time. Hadyn allowed me to park the bike at the garage and toward the top of Mt. Pitt I was! The first cache I looked for was between the two mounts (Pitt & Bates) and proved the most frustrating. Whilst the internet sucks I did another “only on Norfolk” strategy and that’s text someone and ask if they could look up Duncan’s number in the phonebook. He advised me to look for a peach tree and an old septic tank. The first part didn’t help because I hadn’t the faintest idea was a peach tree looked like. An older Aussie couple pointed one out and sure enough the cache was there.
The rest of the caches were along the road, of which I found five out of seven; I’ll have to do another trip up here later in the week. I had spent over three hours in the bush searching for geocaches, and during my time up there I met an interesting couple. They’re birdwatchers from New Zealand yet originally from Mexico and India. That’s good that Norfolk attracts some young visitors, though Racheal would tell me later today that many families visit during summer. Wandering into the Golden Orb I bumped into Doosy. “Christopher! When did you get back?” she called out. Sitting down for a well-deserved tea I asked her to recommend one and she suggested chai. Sure enough it was excellent. Slow I was today even though Racheal told me I could visit her at the museum later. Fish & chips for lunch were tasty after burning so much energy this morning. Mel at the Fish & Chook Shop was excited to see me as well. Since coming back it’s been nothing but love and warmth. Why was I so concerned? Racheal would later be sad because she wasn’t able to arrange her schedule to take a day off for me, but I told her not to worry. A fourth trip here is already on my radar and I’d love to come back and live here for two or three months. Rents are cheap compared to some other places; earlier I saw a 1-bedroom flat advertised for $112 a week (power included). In Queenstown I paid $200 per week just for a room in a house! Lex and I were going to meet up later to discuss the camping trip planned for Friday but I was pretty beat as after I hung out with Racheal for a bit I searched around for another geocache. First I had to stop and admire the vibrant colours of Emily Bay.
The colours at Cemetery Bay are just as magnificent!
Duncan assisted me a bit as I took a very poor screenshot. The cache is titled “Bloody Bridge” yet isn’t near the bridge itself. Found! I did the questions for an “earthcache” as well and found seven caches in one day!
Hitching a lift into town I picked up a bottle of wine and some snacks before running into Joel Christian at Rumours Café. We chatted about rumours, travels, and so forth as the café is a very fitting name for a place (in)famous for rumours and gossip. It started getting a bit nippy out and after a couple glasses of wine I rode off into the sunset back to Dave’s place. Heide cooked up a tasty concoction of rice, ham, and vegetables. Dave told me about a friend on the island who eats only rice at home because that’s all he can afford and eats like a horse when invited over for dinner. I feel that everyone can get creative when it comes to making money; I know I would never accept a life where I’m poor enough to subsist only on rice. Earlier today I picked up a giant avocado for only $2. They’re humungous and cheap on Norfolk! Avocado was once called “poor man’s butter” but now it’s more like butter is “poor man’s avocado.” It's Tuesday night so I opted not to go out. Next year I really hope to come and live here for a few months and I love the living quarters I'm in. Tomorrow shall be another day of geocaching and exploration. Se yorlyi morla!
