September 4

Today I was up early as I had to get out to Glen Eden Train Station and meet Geoff. I call a cab... he decides to drive past me so I called another company and then promptly come and get me with a nice little old man as a driver. Hopefully he can see out the front window and get me there. Why I didnt just take the train I dont know, it was either discomfort in the shadey looking train website or the fact I was strolling along with thousands of dollars worth of clothes, electronics, and cash. So took a cab he estimates it will be 50 dollars. Thats fine, about 45 dollars more then the train but I feel much more comfortable this way.

We arrive at the train station and it comes to 41.50. Cabby says he was off and $40 would be fine. Wow the whole rounding up and down thing here is slightly obnoxious but also works in my favor sometimes.

So waiting waiting imagining what kind of vehicle Geoff drives as Im watching traffic go by. Noticed a lot of young girls dressed as though they were at a Harry Potter convention. They all wear matching uniforms with labels showing their school logo which appears to be a shield with different colors and things on them.

Geoff arrives in his offroad looking Nissan Datsun. With a young guy in the passenger seat named Tom. So i hop into the backseat with Geoffs cat named Whatitu pronounced "footy" Maori name apparently. A lot of things are actually both in English and Maori which is pretty cool. The Maori really faught to be here after colonialization and are still a dominating factor in almost all of the decisions in NZ. Can only imagine what it would be like if the North American Indians all faught as hard, their would be Indian names for everything... I mean they have county names and stuff but imagine if route 81 was called Tunganunga path or something cool like that but then it would change when it left and entered other tribe territories.

Before we head to Piha we head over to Henderson the largest city in proximity to Piha. So i head into the grocery store with Tom and he kind of guides me around. He has traveled all over the world and works as a "WOOFer" (Worker On Organic Farms) to get money to travel to a new place. He seems accustom to going to places and not understanding the local foods or traditions so he helps me out a bit. He says that the meat here is "not so good", I tell him about Subway meat and he agrees it is much better in the USA. He is also a huge fan of Jared.... why Jared is such a respected icon world wide I will never know. But I found myself having difficulty because there are not familiar brand names here... duh i think to myself why would there be Ballpark Franks when they dont even have baseball here. gawd. I try to get my fruits as well as vegetables trying to make a healthy and precarious balance of nutrition... and then go get pasta and canned sauce as well as bread and peanut butter... not being able to find JIF like the choosey mom I am makes me upset... also no Peter Pan... or anything else familiar to me I grab "HomeBrand crunchy peanut spread" ughh..

We finally drive out and get to Piha. I got to explore the Beachstay a little bit more. Its like a bed and breakfast mixed with a backpacker. $30 a night for the normal rooms pricier for the bigger beds or private rooms. About 10 rooms in total with 1 larger bunk room which is where I am staying for the time being. Alan (crazy old guy) is staying in this area with me as well as a guest. There is also a kid about my age named Tom Daily from the Czech Republic who is really cool and nice to talk to. The Beachstay has a large common room with a big fireplace plenty of couches and seating a big wrap around kitchen and a wall made of windows facing the volcanic mountains. Good time to note that all of Piha is inside of a volcanic crater once New Zealands largest volcanos but erroded away leaving a large valley surrounded by very steep volcano cone/mountains.

Today took a bit of a toll on me so Im going to call it an early night as I have big plans for exploring more places tomorrow!