July 12 - Loopholes in Logistics

Meeting Jaclyn first thing in the morning at Auckland International is a bit of a logistical nightmare for me but that’s fine because I am partial to the idea of an airport reunion. I could fly in a day early and stay at a hostel in the city and organize some rendezvous with the help of public transit but that’s just not how I operate (too expensive). Instead I am posting ads on Gumtree and other social networking sites hoping that some random traveler with a vehicle is heading up that way in my window of opportunity and would be willing to accommodate me in return for the splitting of petrol costs; think of it as high tech hitchhiking. If that should fail I will see if any of the car rental companies need vehicles relocated to Auckland and thus afford myself a bit of flexibility as well as the chance to take a speedier yet more interesting route than the bus. Speaking of the bus, it takes 11 hours, which in all fairness would put me on an even keel with Jaclyn who will be fresh off a 14 hour flight but while it is cheap, the fact that my Ipod has recently kicked the bucket doesn’t make that long haul sound too appealing. This may sound like a nightmare scenario to most people but it’s the kind of interesting situation that I love working my way around. One of the first things I wanted to show Jaclyn in Auckland was Waiheke Island. It is the little tropical island 35 minutes by ferry where we spent our second day in the country and first got to drive on the left. Luck would have it that I made a friend a few days ago who grew up there and, despite being away from home frequently these days playing violin and touring with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, she will be there the weekend that we had planned on spending in Auckland and has offered us a place to crash at her house which is by one of the more congenial beaches on the island. I hope to capitalize on the opportunity to jam with someone of her musical experience; maybe I can capture it on video with a vista of sea and sand behind us. I guess I’m getting soft after being away from Canada so long as I’m starting to grumble about the cold weather even though it still floats casually around 10 degrees every day. I’ve caught a cold for the first time in many months which threatens to put a damper on my last few days in the city but I’ll have to just acclimate to the situation. Since I was bedridden last night I reviewed all the short videos I’ve taken since arrival and I’ve got to say, once I compile them into a neat little package they’re going to make about an hour long film that will surely have people laughing. Hopefully this movie will include performances of the few songs I’ve written about my trip. I’d pondered about what I’d do on an 11 hour bus ride to Auckland sans Ipod if it came down to it and I figured that since I can’t write songs on the bus it would be an interesting experiment to write a short story with the duration of the bus ride as the time limit. This may be especially tricky if I take the overnight bus but that just means I’ll have the added advantage of writing the nonsense that can only be generated by the sleep deprived brain. Naturally I would post it in the blog should it occur and should I be satisfied with the results. I need to start thinking of a proper way to cap off my stay here in Wellington because as of right now, the only thing I’ve got planned is a little gathering for wine on Saturday before seeing the Harry Potter finale. There is however a bungee pod in the city center…