Part II

We left the hostel to get dinner from the grocery store. On our way there, we see no people. None. I am convinced that some grizzled old man is going to jump out of a doorway and say something like "None pass this way! You will be doomed like all the rest!", or that we have accidentaly stumbled onto the grounds of a nuclear test site. Noah is convinced my fears are unfounded. As we reach the supermarket, my fears that P. North is controlled by demonic forces is realized as we pass car upon car, parked in front of the store, with people "sleeping" (dead, I think) in the front seats. On our way back, we pass a scruffy man carrying a child (whom he probably just finished consuming raw) 's bicycle. Oh dear.
After returning, we head into our room, and find out where the other guys were. They were (we assume) out drinking in a gutter. As we walk in, one rolls out of bed and says, to Keller, "Lawry? Are you still up?" to which Keller replies that he is not, in fact, Lawry. This prompts much apologizing, and the man falls back asleep. Keller and I crawl into our nice, warm sleeping bags and fall asleep. Later, Lawry (we assume) stumbles into the room. and into bed. He screams at his friend to stop snoring, then begins to make noises that I have never heard another human being make, asleep or awake*. I manage to fall asleep, though I do wake up periodically during the night in fear of the rapture. The next morning, I awake to the unprecedented sight of Noah not asleep. His bed is empty. I get up, and head to the kitchen where I find him huddled over some cereal like a Holocaust survivor. He tells me that, finding no blankets in the hostel, he was forced to sleep under a pile of his clothes and nearly froze to death (due partially to the window being open). He said that he slept for 2 or 3 hours before gettig up at 5am to take a hot shower. As soon as is possible, we depart from the hostel, leving it's rotund owners and irritating decor (hundreds upon hundreds of little wooden signs hanging around with cute little sayings like "There are no strangers here, only friends we haven't met" on them) behind. After hanging around P. North (slightly less creepy during the day), my purchasing of a new hat, and eating "American Hotdogs" sold by a guy going to Massey University (just out of town) - who also offered us his opinions on good bands, places to work, and music festivals (The only quantity he knew of was "heaps" - and he used this word to describe anything and everything (i.e. "It's heaps fun" "heaps of people" "heaps good music" etc. etc.)) we headed to the bus terminal - headed to Napier and hopefully orchard work. The bus ride took seemingly forever, but we arrived at Napier and checking into an Art Deco hotel turned hostel - very nice.

Tuesday, Keller and Noah slept until, roughly, the end of time. A construction crew outside our window is jackhammering the pavement apart, and we all agree that this is soothing compared to the snoring from the night before. We made some calls about jobs, houses etc, and did another puzzle. I start describing the pieces as people - based on thier appearance (i.e. a short man, a dancing morgan, and bright angel, etc. etc.) which irrates Noah to no end. We finish the puzzle except for the 5 missing pieces (in 2.5 hours) and decide that we will never do a puzzle not freshly out of the box ever again. That night we head downstairs to the bar. It's not very crowded, and we get a chance to watch the other patrons. They are: "Suity", a 32 (he announced this) year-old buisnessman in a suit and tie, who was boisterously intoxicated and bought round after round of drinks, a younger guy with a goatee and turtle-neck sweater who would alternate between grinding on his male friend and making out with (we presume) his girlfriend. We played copious amounts of pool while enjoying the "2 for 1" drink special. We had a brief discussion of the merits of different beers (Keller favors Tui, Noah Export Gold, and I Waikato) but arrived a the mutual conclusion that they are all delicious.

Today we are hopefully headed out on bikes to look at a house we might rent, and enjoy the lovely weather and beaches around Napier.

Peace,

Nathan

*Not even Corey. I'm serious.