Day 3

You know, I never learn. After the whole hiking fiasco that happened yesterday, I did it again. This time, we decided that we wanted to go see the ocean. With no idea what to expect of this ‘ocean,’ we packed a few food items and extra pair of shoes, and started biking. Today’s biking was much worse than yesterday’s. The road down to the ‘ocean’ was the high way and of course it was a little sloped. We biked and biked and biked, dragging my burning thighs along and when I just think we are stopping, nope nevermind there’s miles ahead of us to travel still.

When we finally get to our destination it turns out that the ‘ocean’ is not so much of an ocean but more like a salt marsh. It was about three hours walk to and fro, and since there were quite a bit of daylight left we decided to go on ahead. The walk was refreshing. At least I thought so. I wasn’t so sure about how my roommate might have felt though. She looked a little disappointed. 

On our way we met a couple of German girls. They said they were out traveling New Zealand since last September. They looked so young I had to ask, and they told me that they just finished high school (or whatever the German equivalent is of our ‘high school.’) I was thoroughly impressed, and told them that they were brave. Then they replied, “We’re doing this because we won’t be able to travel once we’re older.”  I wanted to tell them that they will get their chance as an adult also but I didn’t.

There’s truth in what the German girl said to me; there’s no doubt about that. But I also think there’s some truth in what I wanted to tell them. I think there are so many relative truths that I’ve believed in. I think I was so caught up with things that adults around me use to say. You know, the thing about stability and how settling down is the best choice in life. There are a lot of other relative truths that tied me down also- things like how I’m not pretty enough or how I’m not good enough to achieve what I want. There are probably some truths in all of those statements but ‘some’ means just some, not all. The rest, the parts that are not ‘some truths,’ are probably non-truths. In other words, they are probably lies. So why did I let myself believe in those lies? I already know of an absolute truth. Everything else contains a little bit of lie within them. So why did I tie myself down with things that are only relatively true?

I wonder if this is the reason why people travel. Because there are such simple but so essential lessons you learn just by getting out of your comfort zone a little. This was what I thought of as we walked that three hour trail.

Day 2

I went hiking, people. Let’s stop for a moment and breathe in the significance of these words.

Even now I still can’t believe I volunteered for it.

My active roommate asked me if I wanted to go ‘tracking.’ It took me a bit to understand what it meant but I got to the right answer in time. The word she was looking for was probably ‘hiking.’ Well in any case she got the meaning across and I said yes. What a fool I was. The mountain’s close, she says. The road is totally flat, she says. Lies. All Lies.

The mountain was maybe 20 minute bike ride away that felt more like 40 minutes. The road was not totally flat. It had ever so slight of an incline, just enough to make the biking near impossible. My thighs were burning as I pedaled my way up and up and up. The sun was burning hot on my skin. Sweat was dripping from my nose. I really did feel like crying at that moment. Thoroughly miserable, I cried out ‘God help me!’ At the last hill, I finally gave up and walked up the bike. At the entrance to the trail, my roommate was waiting for me, looking like she didn’t even break a sweat. Who is this girl? What is this girl made out of?

It was around 1pm and the sign at the entrance said ‘fire danger: very high.’ She just walks in anyway. Since it was the hottest time of the day, we decided to take the valley way first and then climb up the mountain. The valley was really…just like home. The whole mountain in fact, reminded me of mission peak, just larger. 

As always, nothing remains just as it is. The valley, unfortunately, did not remain a valley. We started hitting the mountain slope, and thus started the torture yet again. In the blazing heat, the incline just kept getting steeper and steeper. So what did I do? I gave up. Naturally. Midway through the mountain trail I told my roommate that I couldn’t do it any longer. I climbed down but she continued up. Seriously, who is this girl? 

Except my story, unfortunately, does not end here. I turned right back around and came down the slope. I sat at a shady spot, waiting for my roommate at the bottom of the trail. I was waiting for her for maybe twenty minutes or so when I got the signal. You know the signal. Y'all get it too. Yes that signal. Well it was pretty darn urgent and the public toilets were at least 20 minutes away. I did not have that much time. So what do I do? Of course I opt to go and knock on the door of a friendly New Zealand residents of Blenheim. There were houses right next to the trail so I started walking down the street, looking for best houses to invade. The first house seemed unsafe, judging from the overflowing bottles of beer and liquor bottles seen right by the front door. The second house had a realtor's sign on the yard and no car on the driveway, so I decided that the house was empty. Their neighbor, however, were most definitely home. The nice old man was mowing the lawn when I approached him. Oh the look on his face when I asked to use the bathroom. And oh the look on his poor wife's face when I entered the house uninvited and asked to use the bathroom. Nonetheless they were very nice and their bathroom was spotless. It almost felt like a crime to do whatever I needed to do. Oh human nature and biology.

After we came back home, I took a shower and looked at the mirror and saw all the burns. This is what I get for participating in outdoor activities. My chest was bright red, as was my nose and upper lip. I am definitely developing something that looks just like farmer’s tan. I really hope it will soothe and disappear before the first day of work.