On the Town

I won’t be writing so much once we blow out of Auckland, fear not.

Syd and I just ate pumpkin soup in a hole in the wall at One 2 One Ponsonby Street where Emmylou Harris and Mary Black are on the big screen singing The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia. Ah, and now it’s Cathal McConnell! I’ve been chatting with the man who’s responsible for putting these Transatlantic Sessions up on the TV. We both adore this stuff, but the difference between us is that he plays it and I just listen and sometimes squeak quietly along. I wanted to go home and go to sleep at last, but Mrs. Brown suggested we stay and give him a listen as he steps up to the mic shortly. Good idea but my butt hurts and musicians are never punctual. I told him if I stayed I’d fall asleep in my beer, but the truth of it is that I have no beer. For posterity, Chris Priestly is his name. I hope he hurries his butt up or mine is out the door.

Aw, how sweet. As he began his show he dedicated it to the two women from California, and the whole band bade us farewell as we left, suggesting we forego sleep and stay for the music.

. . .

I really wish I hadn’t woken up at 4:30.

I’d heard that when budget traveling, one wears clothes multiple days, turning them inside-out for a hint of minty freshness. So that’s what I did this morning. It looked a little funny, I thought, with seams and labels sticking out. Proud of my resourcefulness, I showed Syd, who started laughing. “You’re supposed to turn your underwear inside-out, not your shirt.”

In many ways Syd is a great travel companion. She’s cheerful and open-minded and easy-going and generous, and our interests are very similar. But she has a compulsion to experience everything so fully–walk down every single street, listen to the dying note of music, make sure there’s not a possibility unturned or a cafe within a two mile radius that we haven’t investigated. I say this with love in my heart and deep guilt that I am so impatient. Truth is, I have those same tendencies but I’m just a little speedier about it. I take pictures much more quickly. Syd: post your rebuttal here. I am fully cognizant of the fact that I’m extremely challenging.

We’re back at Williamsons (which we accessed via a heretofore unexplored alley) having our morning coffee. Tomorrow we get our rental car and head off somewhere but we can’t figure out where yet. We’re guided in part by weather. The South Island is rainy and snowy for the next few days so we’re heading north somewhere. Stay tuned.