we left napier this morning for gisborne. while we were waiting for the bus, we got soaked in the rain. it only rained heavily for a short period while we were waiting, but it was enough. we got soaked pretty good and had a few minutes to dry off before the bus arrived.

we stopped in wairoa for a grocery run. very little chance of getting food during this trip so we had to load up. we're going to a rural area where transactions are still cash-based and apparently the transportation is still heavily horse-based.

in gisborne, we stopped at the cidery to sample their ciders--alcoholic drinks made from apples. they also make some honey wines. an alcoholic cider is strange to me since in america all the ciders i know are non-alcoholic beverages given to kids, especially during the holidays. i wasn't really into the ciders but at least now i have found another option to order at bars. oops, i'm sorry, pubs! (i can hear in my head, "this isn't a cocktail bar!")

the lodge is right across from the beach

after that, on to the next town of wainui to stay at the chalet surf lodge. it's too bad the lodge wasn't actually in gisborne because i wanted to look around gisborne instead of just pass through it and taste cider. the lodge has the potential to be really nice. it just needs laundry facilities and better beds. if you get a top bunk, you sink a few feet when you get in! it's quite scary for you and your bunkmate below.

there were several mexicans and brazilians staying at the lodge. we talked to one from guadalajara. these kids must be rich because they're just hanging out in new zealand for months. surf all day, watch movies all night. they seem to really be enjoying youth.

the lodge has a small book exchange and one of the books popped out at me. it was a book on howard hughes entitled, "howard hughes: the secret life". i was really excited to pick that one up because i wanted to look into his life after watching "the aviator". the book is by charles higham, who has done many hollywood biographies, including one on katherine hepburn. i think i'll read that one when i get back to america.

the lodge had a computer terminal for internet access with payment on the honor system. i thought i'd try my laptop and pay for it but it just wasn't working for me. my internet preferences showed that the ethernet was connected, but indicated something about a dedicated ip address which might not allow me to use the internet. i couldn't figure it out, so i left it alone, disappointed.

after dinner, we wanted to go for a walk and one of the lodge dogs, will, followed us. we ended up taking him for a walk--more like will was leading and taking us for a walk! it was pretty nice actually. that dog is pretty cute and obedient. we didn't have a leash. we'd just every now and then call out "will!" and he'd stop, turn around, and wait for us to catch up. so cute.

p.s.
today is the 1 year anniversary of being vegan. or vegetarian. i try really hard to eat vegan but sometimes i knowingly eat things that have whey (fake chicken patties) or honey (tea). however i never add these things to my meal. it's always in pre-prepared foods. last year i started doing the veg thing around early march, but on the 13th i ate a couple chicken nuggets to help clear out my freezer and because i felt bad for wasting money again by buying food and not eating it. so i ate some nuggets but i just felt bad for eating them and i didn't enjoy it so i didn't eat very many. today is the 14th so 1 year no meat. cool. let's see how many years i can go.