Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "Brists". Chickens have a couple of these
Was it poetry I was writing, she’d asked? Seen me scribbling in a small pocket book. The sort, she explained, writers used for composition. Not exactly, I’d replied. Had once tried Haiku. But that was quite a while ago. Decades.
Nikki was from San Francisco. Fellow bus passenger. Spreading her wings after a spell in an urban winery. Everything but the vineyards she explained. Heading south towards the Franz Josef glacier.
Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "Willington". Capital of New Zealand
"Makes a McDonalds Big Mac taste like a biscuit" explained Steve, our driver. With enthusiasm undiminished by the comatose state of most of his passengers. Seven twenty three am. Sunrise. Good-humoured descriptions of cafe stops ahead. Home-cooked snacks on offer. That sort of thing. Commentary fresh. Chunky, snappy sound bites. Buoyant. As if he’d only made the journey the day before. Anxious to share the experience. Felt you were travelling together. Or at least I did. Most people by now asleep.
Cafe stop from Ken Roberts on Vimeo.
Early morning stop as Ken explores New Zealand’s South Island by bus
Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "Herrods". Expensive shop in London
Clever. Pretext of a Seventies road trip to explore issues society wrestling with. Technology. Quite a bit more. Simple literary device. Introducing topics through conversations with others. Travelling companions. Admittedly the diversions into Ancient Greece seemed to be, well, errr, just that. Diversions.
Ian, with whom, together with Amy and their children, I’d be staying in Wellington, had lent me the book. Thought I might be intrigued by it. Which I was. The author’s logical, analytical style striking an especially strong chord. Parallels between motorcycle maintenance and my own endeavours as a bicycle mechanic an incidental bonus.
A travel book that wasn’t. Or at least, was a lot more. Different. Which gave me a bit of an idea. Just an inkling.
[Author’s note: Probably not the best synopsis in the first paragraph. Mainly because he ran out of time to read the entire book before having to return it to its owner. But he does, to his surprise as much as anyone else’s, actually have a ’B’ in ’O’ level English Literature. Just don’t mention English Language…’C’ since you ask]
Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "fear". What you pay when you get on a bus
6.45 am. Remarkably jovial. Baseball cap. Bomber jacket. Navy blue. Chill morning. Shorts. Rummaging around for his shades. Our driver. Early bus to Punakaiki. Still dark. Now checking off names. Where was I staying? At the hostel. Which one, he asked? YHA I replied. She’d come and pick me up, he explained. Couple of miles outside the village. Apologetic he couldn’t drop me off at the door.
Friendly reminder to a young man at the front of the bus to keep his food stowed away. We’d be stopping for tea about nine fifteen. And there’d be pies. And then "Onward" announced our driver. His name Steve.
Fellow passengers, mostly young travellers. Backpackers. A few Japanese. Save for our man at the wheel, I’d have been the eldest. Portly chap in his fifties. Bounded about whenever we stopped. Shepherding his young flock from luggage trailer to the small bus. Too few of us for a full sized coach.
And a Canadian woman. Sure I’d seen her the previous evening in the hostel. On the face of it late forties, but the eyes said differently. She’d smiled at me when I’d arrived at the bus station. Early.
[Author’s note: Steve makes several very welcome appearances as the story unfolds. For which, following feedback to his employer InterCity buses, he’s been awarded a particularly well deserved Certificate of Merit!]
Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "Won a Pig". Canadian city
I wouldn’t have minded as much if I’d bought a cheap jacket. But I hadn’t. Supposedly reputable manufacturer. And I’d cared for it. Used only the recommended cleaning products. But to no avail. Sleeves de-laminating. Hood retainer unsticking itself. And now the main zip had broken. Rendering the whole thing quite useless. Alas, out of warranty. And even if it weren’t, I simply couldn’t afford to be without a waterproof.
So I’d been obliged to find a replacement. Quickly. Fortunately Nelson having a number of outdoor shops. Managing to find a heavily discounted Goretex jacket. Man enough to do the job. Not my choice of colour for riding on the road. Blue. But the saving irresistible. Enough to afford a bright fluorescent over jacket to compensate.
Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "steers". Climb these to go up a floor
Bit of a glib statement. Heard it a few times. Just pick up spare cartridge bearings from a local manufacturer. Yep. Frequently pass them on the road. Maybe not. Until now. Or at least a stockist. I’d wandered into a local bike shop. On the off-chance. Wanting to replace the spare set I’d already used for the front hub. Too many different types for them to stock. But there was a place I could try down by the docks.
Bit of a challenge. Trekking down to Nelson’s port. Eventually finding the shop. Helpful chap. But just one of the type I wanted. And I needed a pair. He could get more overnight, but I was off early next morning. So he suggested a second stockist. Just around the corner.
And viola. Set of cartridge bearings. Secretly pleased I appeared to know what I was talking about. I’d asked for generic R8s. Imperial sizing. For an American front hub I’d explained. No bemused looks.
Nelson cathedral. Inspired by Ute I’d ridden with back in Germany. Together with her husband Manfred. She’d lit a candle in Regensburg cathedral. For safe travels. I’d followed suit. But today wasn’t quite the same. Lighting one for a friend. Hers a different journey. Spirited fight against an aggressive cancer.
Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "pigs". Used to hang washing out on the line
Smorgsborg. Generous spread. Germans. Loud. But good spirited. Enthusiastic. Nelson Youth Hostel. Monopoly. Wehrmacht edition I thought. Playing for Poland.
Today’s Kiwese word or phrase: "Frugget". Small warship
Nelson, I’d discovered, was a city. Not a big one mind. But it did have a cathedral. Nor was it the smallest of cities. Certainly bigger than St Davids in Wales. But a city nevertheless. A few notable visitors over the years. His Royal Highness The Duke of York. October 2005. Coincidentally Chairman of The Outward Bound Trust’s Trustees.
