Feeling nostalgic about Blenheim and Koanui though I'm still here

There are so many wonderful things about travelling – visiting beautiful places, having new and exciting experiences, learning about other cultures, discovering foods you didn’t know existed (what the heck is a feijoa?) – but one of the best things has got to be the great people you meet. The worst part of travelling though, is that inevitably, you end up having to say goodbye to these people.

When I first arrived in Blenheim six (SIX!) weeks ago, and walked into Koanui Backpackers, I was underwhelmed.  Though kept very clean, its amenities are somewhat lackluster – the kitchen is a bit cramped and rather lacking in cooking implements, the toilets in the main building don’t have sinks in them, so you have to walk all the way back to your room to wash your hands, the couches are frayed and stained. Nothing major, but it’s hardly the Shangri-La. 

I was also afraid that I’d get annoyed with living with so many people – the thought of sharing a small space with the same folks for so long was frankly terrifying.  I seriously considered renting a room in a house or a flat after my first week.

Imagine my surprise when about four weeks ago I realized that I was having the time of my life here.  It honestly snuck up on me; One day after work rather than feeling like I was returning to a hostel full of random strangers that I vaguely knew, I was coming home to my Koanui “family” (as cheesy as that sounds).

I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment either. I’ve heard others here say how they feel like this place has become home, that they wish it were the middle of March again and that we all had weeks together ahead of us. There’s even one Canadian dude who was meant to leave twice, but couldn’t bring himself to.

Alas, it’s the end of the grape harvest and everyone is starting to move on.  Everyone but me, that is. 

My contract at Makana goes until the 30^th, so I’m going to be sticking around here until at least the 1^st of May.  I’m glad for the work, but it’s going to be so difficult watching everyone I’ve gotten to know and like leave over the coming days. Yesterday the exodus began, and as (bad) luck would have it, it was the three first people I met here who took off – two for the North Island, and one for Canada (third time’s a charm, eh Mike?). It was emotional. I won’t lie; I cried a little when each of them left.

It’s embarrassing how nostalgic I’ve been since yesterday.  I find it incredibly sad that the new crop of people who will be arriving shortly for the pruning season won’t know why there’s a rubber snake in the TV lounge, or why there’s all this neon orange paint dotting various surfaces around the joint, or who this “Kim” of the “Kim Style Says” scribble on the fridge is. I’ll miss the ribbing between team Canada and everyone else (especially the Irish and the Southern Canadian). I’ll miss our yoga sessions which started as a trio but ballooned into a group of seven last week.  I’ll miss the BBQs, the games of Ring of Fire, and the easy conversations we had.

I’m dreading having to make daily decisions – it’s been so nice to not have to decide where to go, where to stay, or what to do every day – and having my conversations with others reduced to the standard “backpacker small talk” (where are you from? How long are you here? Where have to been? Etc.).  Ugh.

Oh well. It’s all part of the traveller’s life, and I just have to keep telling myself that there are many more wonderful experiences ahead of me, and wonderful people out there to meet.  Right?



Andrea, Aline, Inki and I on our way back from Nelson.




Playing with light in Pollard Park.  Kim, Nathan, me, Laura, Mike, Marten, Leah, Inki




The Monkeys -- Kim, Mike and Leah.




Room six: Andrea, Robbie, Aline and me.



James, Iss, Leah, Andrea and me.



Leah and Mike make smores in the lounge as Julian, Sinead and Joe look on.



Team Canada (Me, Leah and Mike) take on the Southern Canadian (American) Ben on the Snout Track in Picton.



USA, Ireland and Canada Unite -- Ben, Joe and Mike.





The "Neon Party" at the Loft -- Ben, me and Iss




Me, Hiroshi, Ben, James, Joe, Iss and Andrea

 Miss you guys already :(

Feeling retched in Brisbane

Make it go away.  I can’t shake this cold.  The headaches, coughing, sore throat and runny nose are really getting me down.  Physically I’m feeling awful and, understandably, it’s having an effect on my emotions. 

As the title of this post states, I’m in Brisbane.  It’s awful to say, but I really wish I weren’t. 

This reticence toward my geographic situation is likely due to many factors

a)      I’m generally displeased with the world as a whole right now.

b)      I like Auckland and I’d rather be there, where I’d made myself a few fleeting friends and had started to get the lay of the land.

c)     This hostel is light years away from cosy, unlike the place I stayed at in Auckland, which really did feel like a house.  Here, the floor of my room (I splurged and got a single tonight in the hopes of getting a better night’s sleep and aid my road to recovery) is bare concrete. 





It’s been painted, but there are areas where the paint has chipped, and little bits of grey rock keeps sticking to my socks and getting transferred to the bed.
The walls in all the common areas are festooned with rules, warnings and admonitions like “Don’t steal!” and “Don’t use the kitchen sink to brush your teeth or shave.”  It’s hardly welcoming, even for those of us not planning on stealing or taking care of our hygiene in the kitchen.  Oh, and there’s no Internet, so though I’m writing this Monday night, I won’t get to post it until Tuesday at the earliest (as predicted, it;s now Tuesday and I'm having to post this from an Internet cafe where pimply, unhealthy youths are talking loudly).

d)      I landed at 5:55 and was greeted with a darkened night sky, pouring rain, and unseasonably cold weather (18 degrees).  I was really looking forward to warmth and sun without the risk of flash rainstorms that Auckland was so often delivering.

The only real reason I’m here is that I needed to land in Australia before October 19^th to activate my working holiday Visa, and I figured I’d take advantage of the warmer climates and get certified for scuba diving.  Alas, not one of the six or so PADI centre is offering a course that fits in to my schedule, so I’m out of luck.   I now wish I’d made my port of entry Cairns (where I’d be sure to find a scuba course) or Sydney (where I could have visited a very good friend).

But in Brisbane I am and I will make the best of it.  I’ll take this time to really relax and hopefully get better very soon.  On Wednesday or Thursday I may also head out to Moreton Island where there are wild dolphins that come in to shore to be fed (though I’m a little against this taming of them).  I’m planning on heading over to North Stradbroke Island, a little slice of paradise that my friend and I discovered when we were here last year.  I’ll hopefully spend a few days walking along nearly-isolated beaches, spotting stingrays and sea turtles. I’m looking forward to it.