At home I fix myself a cup of tea, a boiled egg, and some sliced cold vegetables. I can't tell if this is breakfast or lunch, but it's just past 9:00. I read while I eat, and afterward, I stretch out in the back yard to doze in the sun. I've found the perfect suntanning spot, and I take my time out there every day, ten minutes a side. The Tuis call all around me. A straw hat shades my face, and I relax, glimpsing the blue sky from under my eyelashes and beginning to feel the sweat trickle down my skin. Yuck. Time for a shower.
I get on a bus around noon and head downtown, to get a cup of coffee and check my e-mail. Anna has sent me an urgent message: "At the Base hostel in Wellington, recovering from last night. I got a phone! Let's meet up!" I call the number, but get no connection. Damn. Instead, I leave an urgent message of my own: "At Te Papa Museum, having coffee. I am dying of boredom! Meet me here!"
Our reunion is like something from a movie. Two friends meeting again, on the other side of the world. I stand up when she comes in and we rush together for a hug, loud hellos, laughing, more hugs. Can you believe it?! She gasps. We made it! Here we are, on the other side of the world!
My thoughts exactly.
We take off immediately and I give her the grand tour of the city. We stop at a sunny patio in Cuba Street Mall for gin-and-tonics. Sitting there, swirling ice and lemons around our glasses, which are sweating and cold in the sun, we catch up on our adventures. Anna has been in Taiwan for her brother's wedding, and has been touring New Zealand on the Kiwi Experience Bus-- a party on wheels for young tourists. Our glasses leave wet circles soaking into the wooden table and I idly make figure eights. We buy another round.
That night, we take a case of beer and some groceries back to my place, where we cook John dinner. We drink one beer after the other, listening to rock and roll and talking. Anna tells funny stories about the Kiwi Experience. I make pan-fried potatoes, steamed vegetables, and salmon on a bed of spinach; Anna makes sauteed prawns in garlic butter and we snack on garlic-pickled mussells between bites.
I am glad Anna has arrived. I have spent fifty hours a week alone and bored for about a month now, and although I do enjoy solitude, this level of peace and quiet is starting to drive me nuts. I feel helpless, waiting for work to start, and spending all of my time killing time. Anyway, it's going to be nice to have someone to talk to for the next few days.
The next day, Anna meets me in Island Bay after lunch. We have plans to go to the beach, and we've packed sunscreen, music, plastic cups, ice, cranberry juice, and a 40 of vodka. What a day. We spend all afternoon on the beach, which is empty and a little windy, drinking maybe five vodka-crans apiece. I know Anna through the book store, so for awhile we talk about the book business. It's what we know best, and we're both good at what we do. We talk about going into business together someday. Gradually, as the drinks take their toll, the conversation moves on to relationships, men, past experiences, future dreams. Eventually we wander into a bar up the street, where we meet No Service Sarah-- just our nickname for a very friendly, very drunk lady we meet before she's kicked out for being too inebriated.
Later, we meet John at James and Jeannine's, where we BBQ and I embarass myself a little, having had a few beers and some more vodka since the beach. Everyone laughs and John walks me home. I tell him he's sweet to take care of me, but our roles reverse just a few days later.
Anna's last day in Wellington comes too soon. We meet for coffee downtown, wander through the city, shop for clothes (neither one buying anything). Toward afternoon, we grab an innocent patio beer, then head to Anna's hostel so she can change. The weather gets cooler and we get hungry, so we decide to get a bite at the pub in Island Bay, where I live.
The pub is nearly empty, but I see someone I recognize right away. He's outside on the back patio, facing away from me, but when you've been sleeping beside someone for five years, you know their back anywhere.
John is the center of attention out there, telling stories, laughing, surrounded by his work mates and what I assume are their girlfriends. I sidle up and say, Hey Handsome, come here often? John exclaims something in surprise and gives me a big public hug-and-kiss. What are the chances! We say. We were just here for supper! He introduces us to his friends, and we pull up chairs, ordering beer and cheeseburgers. John's already pretty drunk. He tells me he's been here since three (it's seven-thirty). His boss is buying. By the time John finishes a pint, his boss has already brought him another.
At eight-thirty, Anna and I leave to catch a movie. Before I go, John's boss pulls me close and points out The Shed. It's across the parking lot from the pub. "That's where we'll be," he tells me.
"Are you serious?" I laugh.
"That's the Shed," he says, "We're gonna be there. You should come!"
I can't tell if he's joking, so I smile in a non-commital way and we take off.
The movie is good-- "The Social Network," about the guy who created Facebook. It's darker than I expect, but I enjoy myself, and besides, it's completely full of good-looking men. It turns out that the creator of Facebook might be a pretty big asshole. Or maybe not. This is the movies.
I walk Anna to the bus, then head to the pub to see how John is doing.
He's not at the pub, and I look dubiously towards The Shed, where, sure enough, I can hear music, loud conversation, and the tinkling of glass. I head over and look through the gate.
I see John right away, and he sees me. He looks blissfully happy, and completely surprised to see me. He confesses that he has no idea where he is. How did I find him? Nevermind! I should come meet these guys!
The crowd at The Shed are mostly Maori, and mostly in their fifties. They are singing loudly to Hawaiian rock-and-roll, blending harmonies and laughing. John joins them, and for awhile it seems that no one knows the words. The Maori men congratulate John on his pretty girlfriend, trying to charm me into dancing. I also meet some Pakea (Europeans), like Trevor from Texas, some more of John's work mates, and Maceala, from Maine. We spend some time dancing but eventually, after John has stepped on my feet twice wearing steel boots, I decide it's time to go home. John agrees readily, up for any adventure.
He's asleep and snoring instantly. It's just after midnight, and I'm not really sleepy, so I watch a late-night movie on TV. I must have dozed off- next thing I know, it's morning.
I let Johnny sleep in. Around noon, I make him French toast and bacon before dragging him to the beach to meet Jeannine. The day is incredibly hot. I can see the Southern Alps across the water, and I think, Anna is over there by now. It ends up being a perfect Saturday. We read on the beach, then rent a movie on our way home. As we walk up the hill, we nearly die, it's so hot. We can't even hold hands- we're too sweaty.
"Hey," says John. "It's really summer. It's too hot to hold hands."
My thoughts exactly.
Even your "boring" adventures sound amazing. Miss you!
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