Lake Taupo

The mice and rats in Taupo eventually did all arrange themselves as they were supposed to, if a bit late. I had just booked myself into a youth hostel, made my bed, chatted with two German girls I'd be sharing with, and was heading into town, when my phone finally rang. My hostess's phone was again working and she's just gotten my pleading email with my phone number.

So I headed back to the hostel, folded up the sheet on the bed, and (quite luckily) got my money back. I did see the two German girls and I thought about explaining that I was going to stay with a local, but I thought it would be more fun for them to postulate on what had happened to me.

I sat out front, wondering what sort of car my hostess would arrive in. At first I thought it would be a sedate little grandma-like car, like my two previous hostesses (this woman, as with the previous two, had been a student of my aunt's 53 years ago). But then I thought how my aunt had said that one of the pleasures of staying with this woman would be to have your bath in the garden, so I decided she might have a bit more of a clunker. Perhaps a beat up old station wagon. Datsun or Subaru. Lo and behold, about 10 minutes later an aged Subaru (which she pronounced su-BAH-ru) station wagon pulled up, and I gave myself a little pat on the back.

I was taken out to the house, which was amazing. It reminded me of an Italian villa, but then, as I was reading The House of the Spirits which is set in South America, I decided it was actually more Spanish. There was a central courtyard, bits and pieces of sculpture all over, and an absolutely amazing garden full of exotic trees. I went for a little wander through the garden, and was amazed (and sometimes startled) by all the sculpture around (the large copper leopard in the tall grass made me jump). I did some mental planning of what I want when I grow up and have a house of my own. (I typed "hose" the first time. Much more likely.) And yes, there was a bath in the yard. It was a hot-spring fed tiled pool, surrounded by bushes and ferns. Oh yes, I did my fair share of late-night, under the stars, skinny dipping, as well as some not-too-early morning dipping.

WAY better than any hostel!

As happens sometimes, I was not the only visitor to the house. My hostess's Kiwi goddaughter was arriving with her American husband and kids. It turns out that they live not half an hour from where I spend my summers. As he was my age, we started playing the name game. I began with all the people I knew growing up, but that got us nowhere. As he is a cabinet-maker, I went into the carpenters I know. My farmer-boss doubled as a carpenter, but this guy didn't know him. He did know another farmer though, so he tried out her name on me. I knew OF her, but didn't know her. Then I started listing off the names of farmers that I knew. (I spent 13 summers working on a little organic farm in coastal NH, so I knew a couple.) We had lots of luck on that front. He had been good friends with one of the farmers who lived in my house for quite a few years. He said to me, "You don't live in that farm house near the horses that lots of people rent out?" Yes, I was half way around the world, and I met a man who had been in my house. (Then again, who HASN'T?)

One day my hostess decided to take me down to the Hawkes Bay region to see Napier, an Art Deco town (it was destroyed in an earthquake in the 30s, so was completely rebuilt in the Art Deco style. Alas a lot of that has been pulled down to make way for more modern--read "ugly"-- construction) and go to a couple of wineries. Out of the garage she drove her 1962 Cadillac. I was excited to get in the right side of the car again, but was a bit dismayed to see that there was a leopard-print cloth covering the whole front seat, so none of the three of us (who were sitting abreast without touching, the car was so big) had seat belts. It's not like the roads in NZ are only two lanes, hilly, and windy or anything.

The woman was a bit of a nut, but enjoyable, and treated me like the little queen that I know I am (or would like to become), so I had a lovely stay there.