This past month I managed to get out of Wellington for a road trip around the north island with My friend Clay. There were many great highlights and stories from the whole trip. This was my first proper drive around the North Island and I was amazed by the surprising amount of beauty and views. of the trip including some amazing scenes such as the desert road, and the bustling Auckland motorways. The main highlight however was the people, people are always the highlight for me. This months story centres around three strangers turned friends that we met whilst we were camping near Taupo.
As we were setting up our tent in a free campground near Huka Falls, a car rolled in slowly next to my Mini. Three girls around our age exploded out of the tightly packed Toyota. They began to set up their tent, we overheard conversations and laughter which revealed American accents. As the evening wore on we found ourselves kicking around a ‘soccer’ ball together. The ball had been found in a nearby bush and both parties initially thought the other owned it. Sophia, Phoebe, and Maddie met in college. The three of them had just graduated college and decided to prolong their youth by taking a year-long trip to New Zealand. Whilst discussing different parts of our wonder-filled country we did some place name coaching. I started to feel quite patriotic in a way. We are very lucky to come from a place which is so beautiful and beloved by the rest of the world. Our new friends had spent the last three months WWoofing at different places in New Zealand. WWoofing is a scheme set up for overseas travellers to work on organic farms or lifestyle blocks. In return for their work hosts provide a place to stay and food. The sun started to set but the humidity of the day lingered. Pots of water boiled for tea and the conversations continued. A pack of cards was produced and dished out into equal piles for a game that had three different names. The three girls told us they hadn’t met anyone their own age since landing here. They told us that most of their new Kiwi connections were quirky alternative types in their sixties. To be fair I didn't find this surprising as who else lives on an organic farm and is willing to host young people. The figure that our new friends kept coming back to was a man by the name of John Two (Not to be confused with John One).
John Two Lived in Northland near Kaitiai. he owned a small lifestyle block on which he had built his own one-room clay house. Apparently, this clay house was the most open-plan living in existence. John Two had designed and built it himself, for himself. There were no walls for bedrooms or even the bathroom. Our new friends each developed roles in the re-telling of these stories. Sophia talked the most, with Maddie adding in the facts and little details that were missed in Sophia's rambling. Phoebe became the associated media producer. Intermittently pulled out her phone to show us photos or a map. The dilemma that they found the most difficult with staying with John Two was the coordinated effort they had to use to go to the toilet or have a shower. The two friends who were not in the no-wall shower had to keep watch out to prevent John from accidentally walking in. I interjected here and asked if they thought John Two was creepy or whether he was just a character. I was reassured John Two was just a character. He had never been married or had children so he wasn’t really sure how to interact with three twenty-something women. Think all three of them were quite fond of John Two and were mildly obsessed with his quirkiness. As part of the WWoofing, the hosts often took their guests to house parties or potlucks. John two doesn’t drink, we were told he doesn’t need alcohol to let loose. But there apparently was one potluck where John Two (Who doesn’t Drink) drank a bottle of wine. He was dressed in his Pink Moroccan party shirt. After the wine was finished he proceeded to tell the story of how he acquired said shirt. Apparently, this included an interpretive dance and a few different accent impressions. All five of us were now in hysterics laughing at these stories together. It was late, so we wrapped up the final round of cards and bunkered down into the tents.
Meeting strangers is like colouring in a picture. As conversations happen these people become more colourful and we start to understand them. Slowly the outlines get filled in more and more. As stories are shared and mannerisms taken note of strangers become friends. Slowly over the course of the evening, these three American strangers became friends. When we allow ourselves to be in spaces and places where strangers meet, friends are made. When the morning came we all packed up our tents and got on the road, but we didn’t get the chance to exchange contact details. I think this is a breath of fresh air in our current world, we tend to collect people. Every time we meet people we add them on social media, another pocket of life to follow. These days everyone is "in touch" but that's all we really allow. There is something nice in the fact that these friends will only ever exist as characters in a memory. Maybe in the future, they will tell stories about us like they did about John Two.
It’s nice to finally have this story out. It’s been a long time coming (Seven days too long) but some things are simply better late than never. I think I will remember these characters and the stories they have told for along time, themselves becoming characters in a story I tell. Stories are an important part of how we interact with each other as humans. They are the bridge between each other and our context. Thanks for reading this months edition of The Journey.
Much Love, Be Blessed
Jesse
An absolute beauty of a piece.