Nicks Big Adventure

I chose the title based on the fact that I finished my last entry on sunday. This way I could keep to my new and improved routine. So last sunday was the temple burn at kiwi burn and it was awe inspiring and made me very happy. I went to bed around midnight which was early and woke up to a cold but beautiful day on the paddock. Monday was mellow as many people packed up and moved on. There was a large crowd who stayed behind to either party more or clean up. Monday night everybody that was left attended a pot luck dinner. Matt cooked lentil soup and rice. The supper was good the night went well with me staying out of drinking games. Tuesday we cleaned up and I helped dismantle a guard tower and move lots of wood to be stored. I was aching for a shower and a bed so Matt, Tim and I drove to Taupo. It's a great town that I have been to before. I found a hotel where I could cook myself a good lamb dinner and rest alone. With my batteries recharged I was ready for the next adventure. Since I never have any plans I decided to call up the people I knew in town from kiwi burn. I got a hold of Monk, he informed me that he had won a bungy jump, that he and tim were going to go do it. My first thought was "I'm there!". When you think of high jump bungy you think safety first. This is true but there was a stand that sold beers. So the 3 of us settled in and enjoyed the day and a few brews. After the 12:30 safety check I was up. I got to go first out of my group and I was stoked. 47 meter drop off of a cliff into a blue green river. The scene was set and oh so nice. I shimmied out to the ledge and stood as I heard " three, two, oooonnnnnnnneee" I did not even wait for the bungy part. I fell, not crumpled, forward and flew toward the water at an incredible speed. I waited for the slack to take up and my arms and head dunked into the water. The up swing after that was shear elation. I was lowered onto a boat and I waited at the bottom for my other 2 friends. I was shaking with excitement and adrenaline. Since the next jump is half off I went backwards this time. Same thing only I was less scared and more pumped to take that ride. Monk took the large swing which was fun to watch because the operator chooses when you go so they have a good time freaking you out. Beers and beers and beers that night as we partied at the base hostel. These hostels are very nice with en suite bathrooms and showers. Lots of discounts and such. The down side is they are geared toward people a lot younger than myself. Their major business is young folks whom ride a bus together partying every night only hanging out with themselves. The girls are always dressed up and the dudes are trying their best to impress them in a high school type manner. Good for some but not for me and my sophistification. We nonetheless broke down the dance floor and showed those kids how to jam. I was off to the coromandel the next morning and loving it. I had heard many nice things about here (I am in coromandel town). I drove all the way to Thames and chilled out in a bird blind for about an hour watching the different shore birds eat, play, and make lots of screechy noise. Friday was very rainy but I pushed into Coromandel town. It's a very touristy town with a downtown area that is designed so that it looks like it has not changed. It was rainy so I did some shopping. My van does not have a working radio so I have a portable one which is nice. It's a cheap one so sometimes I have to give it a whack to make the radio work. It also has a tape deck. I have been looking everywhere for tapes and I found some at a thrift store. Now I am set. 3 mystery tapes and the talking heads. I found a campsite that was crowded but cooler than a top ten. I was checking out the digs when I saw some dudes checking out my van. Malcolm said that he has a few and we talked vans for a while. I did some laundry and read a new book for a while. Near dinner time they came back and invited me to have supper (tea) with them. I obliged and joined them bringing my only seat, my chilly bin. Supper was great and we talked into the night and had a great time. Kiwi hospitality is awesome. The next day they invited me to go fishing with them. Again I said "OK," it was a great day on the boat and we cruised up to the mussel beds and hooked in. 4.5-5 hours later we had filled both coolers and exhausted our bait. In we went, cleaned the boat and saved 5 for tea that night. The 13 others we took to "salty towers" to be filleted, vacuum packed and frozen. We also picked up some smoked fish they had brought them a few days earlier. It was way better than dressing out all of those fish. Fish for supper and an early night were awesome. And now I am at a coffee shop using wifi and trying to figure out my next move. Wish me luck and I will talk to y'all soon. I hear the giants and patriots are in the SB, oh well I did not care in 08 so I will care even less. At least Baylor Basketball is doing well. I hope it's a good winter and everyone is feeling and doing well. Peace, Love and Pura Vida!   Nicholas