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Auckland
to Christchurch with two Japanese girls! - by Yukiko
I'd like to tell you about my trip to New Zealand in September
1997. I was an 18 year-old student of University at the time
and decided to visit there with my friend Masayo, whose cousin
Chiharu was teaching Japanese in Nelson. Our plan was to arrive
in Auckland (North Island) and move south while stopping at
many cities over 2 weeks, leaving from Christchurch (South
Island).
On the first day when we arrived at the Auckland YHA (Youth
Hostel), straight away we went out to buy sleeping bags. Though
walking a lot we couldn't find the shop which had them, and
more over we were lost! It began raining, and a surprising
happening occurred when Masayo was almost hit by car! Anyway
finally we found a big sports shop and we asked the shop assistant,
"have you got sleeping bag?" He then said Yes confidently!
We jumped up and felt like crying in happiness, but you know
what? What we saw in his hand wasn't what we wanted, he had
swimming googles. That's the time we most thought, English
is such an important language to learn!
We found people in NZ were very kind and friendly to us. I
could say we were helped a lot everywhere. One time when we
were leaving from YHA, a man at the gate noticed us and asked
where we would go, and then he picked us up by his car and
brought us to the city centre. I'll never forget his last
words with hand shaking, "Good luck!" The bus driver
was also very kind to us. After he stopped at every station
and all the passengers got off, he said us to get on again
and took us to our YHA secretly! Another time at a restaurant
the waitress invited us to stay at her house! I was surprised
by her kindness. Though we couldn't accept her offer as it
was the last day in Auckland, I can't forget her gentle face
and her mind.
The next city we stopped at was Waitomo, which is famous for
it's beautiful cave with fireflies. After we saw them we met
Ms Lorwan who was once Chiharu's host mother. Kindly she welcomed
us to stay at her house in Piopio, a very small village. I
don't know if you can find Piopio in your guidebook? It is
a really tiny village with only one supermarket but has warm
countryside. Here we could see a sheep farm and we even touched
them! Ms Lorwan was a teacher of elementary school in Piopio,
and in the morning she took us to the school. I hadn't known
before that the children had such very beautiful eyes and
so pure! They gathered around and spoke to me, like singing
of a bird. All of them were friendly and interested in us.
One girl hugged me and didn't want to move when it was time
for us to leave. They sent us off and waved their small hands
till they couldn't see our bus. From the bus I saw that girl
was almost crying. Though I can't express my exact feelings,
I do know that time gave me great feelings and it became my
treasure.
We said goodbye to Piopio and headed to Rotorua where we saw
a Maori show. We then travelled down to Wellington where we
took a ferry across to the South Island, arriving in Nelson
where Chiharu lived. We stayed at her host families' house
and had a wonderful time with them! We played the card game,
talked a lot and watched films together. We were also surprised
that the boyfriend of one of their daughter's came to have
dinner with the family on his own. This is unique for our
Japanese parents! The boyfriend in Japan would be too nervous
to meet his girlfriend's parents on his own. Often the father
isn't that friendly towards his daughters boyfriend! Chiharu
also took us to many great places by her car. I really feel
that by having friends who live in the area, they can show
you many beautiful places that often are not written in your
guidebooks!
The last city we visited on our trip was Christchurch. It's
a big city and you can see lots of tourists there. We didn't
know but another happy moment was waiting for us, it was the
receptionist man of the YHA, he was SO nice and handsome!!
You can imagine, we were so nervous to talk to him. After
he showed us our room and left, we were so excited that we
danced for joy on the beds!! Silly girls. Every time we passed
in front of him we made up carefully and we tried to give
him wink. He always smiled back to us and we always danced
after that!
One night while we took a shower, Masayo noticed we had left
our keys in our room. What a nightmare! We had to go to the
reception, but you couldn't say we looked cute. We had dressed
into a jersey like at PE class, holding towels around our
neck, and wearing glasses. Both of us prayed that the person
at the counter this time wouldn't be the handsome man. Oh
no I thought, no luck for us, as it was him. While looking
down not to show him our ugly appearance and trying to explain
what had happened, he heard our murmurs and took the master
key. Let's go, he said with a smile. I couldn't see his face
directly when he unlocked our door, but we both knew what
he saw at that time. He saw our panties hanging on the wall
next to the door, drying! After this we gave up trying to
take a photo with him the next morning. It was really embarrassing,
but so funny that we laughed and laughed later that night.
That's the end of my story for now. Our two weeks in New Zealand
were full of happenings and discovery. We experienced people's
kindness, which made us happy from the bottom of our hearts.
If I hadn't been to NZ at this age, maybe I wouldn't have
noticed a lot of things now? Though it was only a short stay,
we were able to make many friends and touch their feelings.
It meant we could see the real face of this country from them,
which was not the same as I had imagined from the geo textbook.
Well, I want to tell you, there are many more funny stories
that I couldn't write! If you would like to hear them, please
ask me... hehehee
Submitted: 15 April 2002
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