The Power of the Keyboard

Being on the other side of the world hasn't prevented instant communication with the U.S. Being there is just a few key strokes away. Today this wonder of the modern world was put to invaluable use.

In order to get a 40% discount on AA car insurance here, we needed a letter from my previous insurance company stating that I had no recent claims. I needed the letter in 24 hours. Calling my old insurance company's 1-800 number was useless, but email home wasn't. In a quick note to my father I asked him to place the call for me and have the letter drafted. The letter was faxed to his computer in Detroit, and from his computer faxed here to New Zealand, (all within a one minute 30 second computer transaction) well within the 24 hours.

Modern technology saved us $60 (thanks Dad) and by 10 am our heap of yellow metal was fully insured. Unlike the U.S., where registering and insuring your car is monetarily equivalent to putting a child through college, here the seller simply pays a $9 fee to transfer the registration (done at any post office) and voila, you own a new car. No sales tax, no title transfer fee, no hefty registration fee and no license plate charge. Insurance, though not required by law, is one call away and payable by credit card. No wonder cars here change hands so often. We are the lucky 12th owner on ours.

Whangarei

We finally hooked up with Eric. As it turns out we had been camping about 100 meters from his hotel. After an afternoon spent returning the rental car, cleaning the heap and trying to puzzle fit all our bags inside, we all headed North to Whangarei.

This beautiful town lies about 168 km North of Auckland. It is the major town in the Northland area and a haven for yachts from around the world. To get there we passed grazing sheep, wide gorges and rolling hills. (With our load and only a 1100 cc engine, we were hurting to get up most of them.) In pouring rain we chugged and hauled our load and in the process learned the meaning of New Zealand driving. Boston drivers by comparison are tame. Here people pass around blind corners on two lane roads, passers pass passers, they honk if you don't take windy curves as 100 km/hr and they overtake you at every opportunity. One little old lady stuck her head out the window as her friend passed us and gave us a kiwi curse.

After a few hair raising encounters with overeager locals, we arrived in Whangarei at the top of a hill at the YHA hostel. Bob checked us in and told us where to pitch our tent.

Bob is the answer man. He's bubbly, friendly and can tell you where to find just about anything you might need. He showed us the night sky, pointing out the Southern Cross. He entertained us with conversation. He even accompanied us to the Jovial Judge Pub. He keeps the hostel immaculate, so it was a joy to stay there.

The first night there we sat in the large kitchen and met the other travelers. Two from Germany, a family of four from Denmark, also traveling around the world, and two others from Southern New Zealand. We talked and talked and by 10:00 pm John and I were ready to call it a night. Eric, however had ideas of his own. Glow worms.

At first the thought of starting a hike at 10:00 pm sounded absurd. And the thought of crawling into a cave at that hour sounded ludicrous. But the other guests insisted it was worth it. The glow worms, they said, were incredible. It took a picture book of these iridescent blue worms to convince me, but eventually I gave in and we headed into the night.

In total darkness we headed up the path along a river. My flashlight threw barely enough light to cover my next two footsteps. There was an eerie sound to the running water and I was wondering why we came. Then, 500 yards up the path, blue spots of light appeared. They were everywhere. Constellations of glow worms. It was wild. When we reached the mouth of the cave we poked our heads in to gaze at the glowing ceiling. In addition to tiny worms we saw Weta bugs. These are the oldest insects on the face of the earth, having changed little in the last 190 million years. The giant weta is the largest insect in the world, weighing in at 71 grams, almost the weight of a mouse. When we arrived back to the hostel, I had to admit it had indeed been an incredible experience.

Finally at midnight, just as the sky was giving its water back to the earth, we hit the pillows. I fell asleep to the sound of New Zealand rain.