Auckland North Shore: The Calm before the storm

So after the game in Hamilton I developed a bit of a head cold so a spent a few more stuffed up days at the Brown's place in Matamata, including a huge lightening storm before preparing to move on. I hate packing and several times arranged clothes into when I would need them and usefulness......then I ran out of time and threw them into one big ball and squeezed my bag shut. I may have organized the longest (Naked) bus in the history of taking buses from Matamata to Auckland that took four and a half hours and took in sights as far away as south Bay of Plenty and the bottom of the Coronamdel Peninsula. I was listening to Guns N' Roses and reading Slash's autobiography so in a good mood. I eventually made it there early and got an early connecting bus to Mairangi Bay on the North Shore. The driver was listening to Green Green Grass of home by Tom Jones and belting it out as loud as he could, the passengers were unfazed but I thought this was hilarious. I walked to Nick and Joy Gregory's house from memory, they are old friends from Sully and kind enough to put me up for the second time in two and a half years. I got a kind greeting from the cats as I waited for my hosts to finish work. We caught up over drinks and dinner and finished the night with a film in the movie room, which was the norm last time as well. I slept in the same bed as my previous visit and it was so comfortable I fell into an immediate and deep sleep.

I awoke very peacefully and Joy made me coffee on their very professional, and expensive looking, coffee machine. We went to Takapuna for a walk on the beach and then got some supplies for dinner. i was going to try my Ginger and Orange chicken again but this time with an Asian twist. The sun was out, contrary to the weather report so Joy and I had lunch on the balcony and in twenty minutes I managed to get a little burnt, like they say in Auckland you can experience 5 seasons of weather in one day and if you don't like the weather wait ten minutes and it'll change. I then prepped the sauce and marinated the chicken for dinner, I tasted all the way through and this sauce with sesame seed oil, maple syrup, diced ginger and soy sauce with orange zest and freshly squeezed orange juice smelled and tasted beautiful. I forgot to mention before that i have secured a quarter final ticket at the not so cheap price of $300 but as Billis Gillis says, you got to do these things. Transport already being sorted with a twelve hour overnight bus from Auckland to Wellington my only issue now is accommodation, I have been looking at couch surfing or possible floor options as all hostels are full. We shall see. Joy and I went to collect Katie (her daughter who I went to school with before they moved over here) and baby Jasper, and to see the house they have been working on for about 7 months, which with the use of before and after photos they have turned around into a very aesthetically pleasing abode to live in.

I cooked dinner, and watched baby Jasper chase the dog and cats. Tony, Katie's husband also joined us and we had a very good catch up and a discussion about culture and weaknesses in our political systems, very grown up.

Then I am very pleased to say we watched Thor, the only Avengers film i am yet to see which also turned out to be the best one so far. After Katie, Tony and baby Jasper left, and Nick and Joy had gone to bed i once again searched for accommodation in Wellington, which has been a plague on my mind since I decided to go. There didn't seem to be any hostels, hotels or couch surfing space so I was at the end of my tether and looked into renting a car and sleeping in it, which proved pricey and unrealistic as I would have to return it at like 5am to guarantee making my bus. Another thing I considered was locations I could sleep rough, I was not and am still not above that idea as its free and the location i ended up choosing was sheltered from wind and rain and should hold out nicely, a last resort but a plan none the less. I went to bed and due to my anxiety struggled to sleep.

I awoke to one of those beautiful Auckland days that make you want to stay or revisit once you've left. I was not in a good way due to lack of sleep and no way am I having a crack at using the fancy coffee machine for fear of breaking it and scalding myself. I then proceeded to get contradictory emails from the old man saying to spend less to afford tickets but to take everyone out to dinner, the two don't really go hand in hand and this isn't the first time I have had similar advice. Helpful! I also last chance salooned it with a friend of mine in Auckland who may be my last hope of accommodation. Hazel, from previous Wellington blogs, as forementioned is a student and with a lot of work on not really able to commit too much time to the RWC at the moment, but she gave me a lifeline and said I can crash at hers. This was such a burden off my mind, to which my grattitude is currently limitless, you saved my arse from the cold! I went for a walk to get money for my ticket I should be receiving today and had a walk on the beach. When i returned I wrote a world cup quarters poem and also received feedback from one of the requests I made on couch surf from an angry man who upon requesting his couch said i was abusing the system and he won't report me even though I have upset him! As I have no idea of the system this was my response:-

"Oh really? This was actually my second ever attempt at using Couchsurfing a so called friendly community. Let me start with how dare you try and threaten me you insulant little man. A you've got the wrong end of the sting would have sufficed but to say i abused the system is completely idiotic and i can't believe people would stay with you, you bigoted little little man. Good luck crashing the dreams of others!"

Could have got a bit more threatening but thought that should do and changed my account details as to noy harm my couch surfing attempts in the future. I hope he gets in touch again. After i calmed down a bit I met Ieuan, Mugsy and Dave Allan down at Paper Moon, a bar just down the way for a pint and to collect my Quarter Finals. I met nick and Joy back at the house and we had Fish and chips followed by Doctor Who, Mythbusters and South Park.

I feel I may have a subconscious fear of sleeping as I am not putting off trying to sleep till later and later. It may be that my dreams are becoming more erratic and my sleep patterns completely varied but I push the time I try to sleep as late as possible, to the stage where I am almost passing out, then in the morning I am unshakably tired.

I woke up so comfortable but with some prep to do before I set off on my 12hr bus ride to Wellington. I had elevensies with Joy before shaving a sexy chinstrap out of my hobo beard. I went on to throw a hissy as I thought I had left my jacket on a bus but found it a couple of minutes later in plain sight, very embarrassing. I had lunch on the decking with Joy and had a great chat about skiing and snowboarding and then went for a walk on the beach and along the coastal footpath, it was it's early Spring and people are already in bathing suits.

The anticipation was building and I didn't know what to do with myself so in true Ramone fashion I got sedated, with a few beers. Watching the build up the press, unsuprisingly had a strong New zealand bias but unfortunately so did the coverage so unless you knew that there were other games on you'd think it was just a New Zealand Test. I had a few beers with Nick and set off on bus 1 to Auckland for my quarter final adventure.