After staying with Kerstin for a week, I went off to meet my old flat mate, Paul. He was working at Shed 5 down on the waterfront and I sat there enjoying the sea until he finished at about 3:30pm. Now, Paul is the hardest worker I've ever met, so when he came off shift and said the work was too hard, I believed him! He'd only done three shifts but it was long enough to know it was too much. Eight chefs to keep happy in a small kitchen, and being told you'll be working until 11pm at the latest, then not finishing until 3 in the morning, I can understand why he looked hard done by when I met him. My back pack was feeling unusually heavy for some reason so we both happily got the bus back to his place in Brooklyn. I discovered the house he was staying in was affectionately referred to as 'The Bruce' after the name of the road its on, and what a place it is! Five people were staying there and it had a great student feel to it, despite no one actually being a student. Joe looked after all the admin side of the house, bills etc, and he works in Bio-security. A great all round fun guy with a cool attitude, he and his girlfriend Lauren both made me feel instantly welcome. They'd been off at the botanical gardens all day, looking around and playing with a giant hula-hoop. We started a fire in a metal drum in the garden (hobo style) and Lauren did some hula for us. I had no idea you could move hula-hoops in such ways! To me, you try and swing it round your hips, if you're good, it stays up. Lauren, however, was able to flip and turn and spin this thing in ways I didn't even know existed. It was very cool to watch!
The Bruce also has an amazing balcony that looks over the whole of Wellington harbour, complete with massive comfy armchair to sit in. I spent pretty much every night wrapped up in my layers, looking out over the view with a nice cold beer (or four). It was one the balcony that I first met Danger Cat, or should I say Mr Danger Cat. Danger had been in the house as long if not longer than anyone else there, and it was his house basically. We were all just guests in Danger Cat's house. I discovered why he was called so when I saw him leap from the floor, rebound off my leg and land dangerously on a narrow pole hanging over the edge of the balcony. This cat was a stunt cat if ever I saw one! Although I made the mistake of scratching his belly. He rolled onto his back and looked very much like he wanted me to scratch his belly. His reaction was to sink both set of claws into my arm and then to sink his teeth in too. I told Paul and Joe about this and they laughed at me "Oh you didn't fall for the old 'Tickle my belly' trick did you?". Paul then showed me a David Mitchell clip about cats that summed it up perfectly. "Do you love your dog but hate the space it takes up? Tired of its complete selfless devotion to you? Well try new cat! Small, neat and doesn't care if you live or die".
I had a great time with Paul, it was really good to see him again and I'm happy he's set himself up yet again in a pretty sweet situation. He also lives with Nancy, a girl from Ipswich who I only got to know on the last night, she was quality and spoke with a wonderful English accent that reminded me so much of home, and also a really friendly girl called Sheepii from Hong Kong. As I say, The Bruce is a great place and I really look forward to stopping back in there when I finally walk back down to Wellington.
Now I'm back in Titirangi with Adam and Gill. Cee Cee has insisted I see her too before heading up to Northland, but soon enough I'll actually be starting my walk! Starting almost a month early, but I'm confident the weather is turning more spring-like, and I want to be back in Wellington for some time in November. So, my next update could well be from the track!
The Bruce also has an amazing balcony that looks over the whole of Wellington harbour, complete with massive comfy armchair to sit in. I spent pretty much every night wrapped up in my layers, looking out over the view with a nice cold beer (or four). It was one the balcony that I first met Danger Cat, or should I say Mr Danger Cat. Danger had been in the house as long if not longer than anyone else there, and it was his house basically. We were all just guests in Danger Cat's house. I discovered why he was called so when I saw him leap from the floor, rebound off my leg and land dangerously on a narrow pole hanging over the edge of the balcony. This cat was a stunt cat if ever I saw one! Although I made the mistake of scratching his belly. He rolled onto his back and looked very much like he wanted me to scratch his belly. His reaction was to sink both set of claws into my arm and then to sink his teeth in too. I told Paul and Joe about this and they laughed at me "Oh you didn't fall for the old 'Tickle my belly' trick did you?". Paul then showed me a David Mitchell clip about cats that summed it up perfectly. "Do you love your dog but hate the space it takes up? Tired of its complete selfless devotion to you? Well try new cat! Small, neat and doesn't care if you live or die".
I had a great time with Paul, it was really good to see him again and I'm happy he's set himself up yet again in a pretty sweet situation. He also lives with Nancy, a girl from Ipswich who I only got to know on the last night, she was quality and spoke with a wonderful English accent that reminded me so much of home, and also a really friendly girl called Sheepii from Hong Kong. As I say, The Bruce is a great place and I really look forward to stopping back in there when I finally walk back down to Wellington.
Now I'm back in Titirangi with Adam and Gill. Cee Cee has insisted I see her too before heading up to Northland, but soon enough I'll actually be starting my walk! Starting almost a month early, but I'm confident the weather is turning more spring-like, and I want to be back in Wellington for some time in November. So, my next update could well be from the track!
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