Nicks Big Adventure

The rain has finally stopped, for now. I contacted a friend that I know through disc golf to let him know I would be in town this weekend. He invited me to stay with him, play in the tourney this weekend on an island off of the Auckland coast, and watch NASCAR on Monday. All of those things sounded great so I was going back to Auckland. Gabb has a two bedroom house with a large entertainment room and a big yard. By far the best piece of equipment he has is the foos-ball table. I thought my skills were good, but like my disc golf game I am not as good as I remember. I blame my friends in the US. Friday night we went to a real hip part of Auckland to listen to music. The Gunslingers Ball was a collection of bands playing in an underground bar at the Saint Kevin Arcade. There were about 11 bands playing bluegrass and country and rock. the venue reminded me of the Brixton in Redondo Beach. As most friday nights, it got late fast. Then got early early fast when 6am rolled around. We made our ferry to waiheke by the skin of our teeth. We had bicycles and large backpacks for the island. My head was pounding by the time we hit the dock on the island. My headache was chased away by a 10 Km ride to the sports field. Luckly we had a pit stop at the farmers market to snag some breakfast from a food cart that was at Splore. Small world. The course was green and lush with rolling hills. A few holes into my first round I began to hate those hills. 6 holes later I found out that some of the green stuff was gorse, think giant stinging thistle bush. At the end of the day and two rounds, the course had some of my blood, sweat, and tears (i lost a disc). I had improved my score from the first to the second so i call it a good day. We were invited to stay at the tourney coordinator's house. He lives in a two story home at the base of a large hill in a beautiful bay. Most of the players showed up to the beach BBQ. Fresh mussels and fish were for supper and it was amazing. The place we got to stay was a caravan at the top of the hill above the main house. It was a cliff with steps dug into the side and a rope to finish the final 15 meters. Besides the climb it was the best place to camp. From under the trees you could see the ocean and beach. The sunday round was good and I think for the first time I did not come in last! We rode back to the ferry as fast as we could but missed it and I got lost on a side street. A hour later another one came and we were home free. I took my van to get worked on and looked at so I hope that goes well. I am cooking my chicken wings and ribs for nascar, but for now I will have to wait till tomorrow to see the race. Ill get some more down later I gotta cook and play golf at a private course. Pura Vida