ALIE'S BIG DAY

ok so
where to start
it's been a while since my last post

today was a HUGE day for me
absolutely HUGE
but i'll get to that later
must go in order

we left auckland and went to Whitianga for four nights
if you're Moari or just plain hardcore, you can pronounce Whitianga as "Fi-tee-ahn-ga"
our bus driver was just plain hardcore

so anyways
Whitianga was pretty nice
we stayed in a hostel that was right on Buffalo Beach and so spent a lot of time reading and just gazing out at the ocean
we rented a car one day and drove around to Hot Water Beach (which was crazy busy and kindof a let down... except that we found this one spot where you could bury your feet into the sand and feel that the sand/water about a foot down was SO HOT... pretty cool), and Cathedral Cove which was AMAZING. and there were these HUGE waves and we swan and i had some major knocked on my butt, thrown around, will-i-ever-come-up-for-air moments. it was the best wavey ocean swimming i've ever experienced.
then i was supposed to spend one day on a kayaking trip around mercury bay but for some reason it was cancelled... but i didn't find out until i'd already taken a ferry across this river with my New German Friend.
so she and I just wandered around instead
and we saw donkeys
and turkeys
and horses
and cows
and baby cows
and sheep
and some crazy beaches
and hiked up some cliffs
and met some old Kiwi ladies
and it was basically the most random day ever

then after Whitianga, we went Wwoofing near Thames
and it was pretty much the funniest four days ever
we lived in a little "caravan" (like a campervan thinger) on the property of this really really old kiwi couple
and they were so nice and so hilarious an always fighting in that old couple way
and basically we think that the only reason why they are wwoofers is cause the lady wants people to talk to
she basically kept up a constant narrative ALL THE TIME
and so sometimes you were part of the "conversation" but sometimes she wasn't even in the same room but she was still talking
mostly we just smiled and nodded a lot
and the husband was so funny and very deaf and i spent the whole first day RACKING MY BRAIN to figure out where on earth i know him from...
....who does he look like???
a "Guess Who?" character? yes, of course... but that's not it
a Rahl Dahl drawing? ...sortof...
BUT, then at dinner, I FIGURED IT OUT:



wait for it

TREEBEARD

holy moly he was EXACTLY like Treebeard from the Lord of the Rings
everything from the way he looked, his features, his mannerisms
it was absolutely uncanny
i almost pooped my pants when i realized it
then i told Mim later when we were back in our CARAVAN and we laughed for like four hours
he was a pretty cool guy though too. he has a degree in pretty much every subject, including anthropology. so he was giving me all kinds of ideas for my thesis. thanks dude.

but anyways
we fed chickens (err... "choocks"), repotted trees, carried brush and weeded gardens, and helped with the cooking
mostly we didn't actually have to work that much
and they grow all their own fruits and vegetables so it was pretty much the best food i've ever had in my life

but anyways
now we are in Tauranga
and if you pronounce that how it's spelled then people will look at you like you are a nob
you have to pronounce it in a really exagerated "TOW-rrrrrrrron-ga" way. and roll the r.
so funny

anyways
so we have been hanging out here for a while
and then TODAY I HAD MY BIG DAY!!!!!

here is what is so big about it
1. i bought a tankini swim suit thing
it's the first time since i was like six that i've owned a REAL normal human being bathing suit. and i am actually gonna wear it. crazy things DO happen. it's very nice and black and simple and i need to do some serious tanning before i can wear it without a paper bag on my head
2. I BOUGHT A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEAH THAT'S RIGHT!!!!
it's a 93 mazda clef (four door sedan) and it's dark red. and it's the biggest ugliest hunk of junk in the world. but the AA checked it out and it only needs a couple service repairs and otherwise they said that it's a fine car SO I BOUGHT IT. i got it from the friendliest car dealer at all. and he didn't radiate any slimeyness.
you see... i decided while we were it Whitianga that i wanted a car. i got to looking at maps of all the places that i wanted to go and i realized that it just isn't conceivable to do it by bus. it's slow and it hurts my back and it means that we just don't have access to a lot of cool places. also, i hate schedules, remember?
SO
i had this major confused-alie-what-am-i-doing-with-my-life-do-i-really-want-a-car moment/day
and i called m' mom n dad
and i decided to buy one

so then when we got here, post-wwoofing, i started looking. and i was getting stressed out and not finding anything and beginning a major freak out. so then i just MARCHED (you shoulda seen the marching) into this car dealership and i was like
"do you have any cheep cars?"
amd the guy was like "how cheep?"
and i was like "fifteen hundred dollars"
and he was like "ummm well... no, but i have this trade it... but it's about 2500"
and so i looked at it
and it wasn't cool or cute or lovely like any other car i'd ever seen
and it was ugly and big
and everybody kept saying to get a car from Turner's auctions
but that was so confusing and i couldn't figure it out

then i had another confused-alie-what-am-i-doing-with-my-life-do-i-really-want-a-car-and-where-should-i-get-it-from moment

and then i decided that i wanted it
and i am not cool or cute or lovely so why does my car need to be?
i am solid and functional and rounded around the edges
and so that is what my car should be

so then i marched back
and i LIED
and i said:
"well... i've seen some other cars that are a lot cheeper but not quite as nice, but they do have less mileage on them. but i like this one. but i really don't want to pay over 1500"
(TRUTH: i hadn't seen any other cars even close to as good or as cheap. i was willing to pay around 3000 to just GET SOMETHING THAT I LIKED)
and so i convince him to give it to me for 2000
(though, of course, he was probly lying too, and so he was still ripping me off, but not by as much, so it's ok) (also, we was like the nicest person in the world)
so i said i wouldn't buy it till the AA checked it out
so he set up the appointment for the car for me
so then i went down there today after it was done and got the report (cept first we went to the WRONG place, another car service place really far away and we walked there and it was so hot and sunny and then i realized it was the wrong place once we were there buy the guy there was so nice and got the girl who works there and drives people around (like after they drop their cars off to be repaired) to drive us to the right place... even though we weren't even his customers or anything)
and when we got there, the mechanic man was so nice
(i've decided that Kiwi's are the friendliest people in the world)
and he said that it needed a few service stuff - oil things, but not urgently and the engine was good and everything else was fine.

SO I BOUGHT IT

yeeeeeeeeeeah i did!

i am SUCH an adult

i own my own car

yes i do

and it's red

and i want to name it, but that is something somewhat un-adult

and i can't come up with anything even remotely good or clever

but anyways

so we are gonna drive away tomorrow morning

not sure where we are going exactly

but it doesnt matter because we have a car!

yeeeeah!


ok so
i have not much else to say
and my time is about to run out
and i haven't emailed my parents yet

check ya lata skatas