Anyone who knows me has heard my many stories of my wanderings and adventures going slightly awry and not as expected. The possibilities are endless for misadventures when I am left to my own devices. These misadventures are a part of me and have become moments that I, for the most part, look back with great fondness.
After parting ways with my German friend, I began my solo adventure further into the Coromandel, where I spent a night at a beach side campsite, Tapu. I stopped on my way to the campsite to chill on the beach and watch the night sky and this happened...I was even using a flashlight and still stepped in a massive mud pit. This is what happens when I am on my own and left to my own devices.
I decided to take a drive further up the Coromandel, found a few lovely views along the way, but it was just not the same travelling alone after all my time spent with a travel buddy. My desire to explore and continue on the adventure started to wain and I made the decision to turn back around and head down south to be with my friend and her daughter in Wellington. So here started my solo journey back down south.
I made it a bit of a mission to just get back on the road and drive south without making too many stops since I had travelled this area quite a few times. I decided to go west and ended up in Whanganui. I was checking out a market that I had heard about so wandered down along the water, checked out the shops and enjoyed the sunshine for a while. Walking back to my car, I saw a note on under the wiper on my windshield that read, "you have a flat tire....don't drive off!". Upon inspection, I did in fact have a flat tire. I appreciated the note but was very discouraged about the tire since it was early evening on a Friday meaning all the shops would be closed until Monday. So here began my adventure of the flat tire. Now typically, changing a flat is not all the difficult. However, without the proper tools it is very difficult. Turns out I only had part of the tool that takes the lug nuts off. Which I only figured out after I jacked the car up. So being the thrifty human I am, I tried a number of things, including a spoon and fork until I decided to give up and start asking people for a proper tire iron. I asked about 4 people before I found someone who actually had one in their car. He was so kind, even offered to help me with his 3 children hanging off of him. I declined the help and said I would just appreciate the tire iron and would leave it in his car when I was done with it.
With the tire changed I made my way to the library to use the internet to figure where I would stay for the night. And it just so happened that my kiwi friend was at the very same library. I shared my conundrum with him. He immediately was on the phone and within minutes I was following him to his friends house who had an airbnb in her backyard, where she ended up letting me stay for the whole weekend in trade for some brewkies and good company. It was a lovely weekend spent chatting about life, sharing stories of travel and enjoying the energy of her kids running around the backyard. Another moment in life to appreciate the kindness of strangers.
Monday came. I said my farewells to my new found friends and made my way to the tire shop. After the unexpected delay and purchase of a new tire I got back on the road with just enough time to see a colour therapist my friend had told me about. I was intrigued by her story of this man so my curiosity got the best of me and I stopped by his house for a colour reading before I left town. This was a very interesting experience. This man was one of those people who had travelled the world and met incredible people in each country, taking knowledge and learning traditional practices from each encounter and bringing it all back to his home in New Zealand. It was definitely one of those experiences that was meant to be. I love learning about different cultures and practices of healing. It is always a mind opening experience.
Back on the open road this was my home for only 3 hours more. I stopped along the way and picked up some delicious berries and stopped at a quilt shop to pick up some absolutely beautiful New Zealand made fabric prints.
Arriving in Wellington, I bid farewell to the open roads of New Zealand and contented myself to enjoy my last few weeks in the windy city with my dearest friend and her daughter.
This is the start of a whole new adventure.
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