Costs:

The problem with places larger than 'the dot' is that you can spend a whole day traveling on a bus. I was glad that this time I made it on a proper Stray bus, but things were developing slowly since there were only 2 other people besides me. [I can't decide whether it's because it's winter or because I wasn't showering enough.]

The two Stray mates where Karmen from Belgium and Penis from England. I must admit I didn't warm to them very well initially. Actually I didn't warm to the English guy at all and the reason I made such good friends with the Belgian was because of him. I had to pull Sheamus back as he was going for his crotch when he said "but when I'm in England and I start working I'll make $30,000." Presumptuous asshole! [Why did you mention this? Don't you know I get agitated when I hear this. As if he's the only one that makes that money, I can make 5 times that but I prefer not to.]

I was about to start getting vulgar as I usually turn when I'm fed up but then we stopped in the possum place. I had a possum pie and calmed down. The possum like all the other introduced wild land mammals are a threat to the indigenous wildlife in New Zealand so they're considered pests. You can freely kill them and use them in any way you want. In fact this place had seat covers, other decorations made out of possum fur and the possum pie that tasted somewhere between chicken and pork. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

We arrived in Franz Josef at around 2pm but it was pissing rain and there wasn't anything interesting to do except go to the internet café. The internet café had the most original tech-décor I've seen. The café was built in the inside of an old bus.

In this village we were staying at the rainforest retreat, a hostel the size of a university campus. I spent most of the evening in the kitchen and I had a very complicated meal. The main course was pitta bread with tinned smoked mussels and anchovies. I vowed that I wasn't going to waste precious time preparing food on holiday so the food preparation had to involve the minimal amount of cooking, preferably involving no cooking at all, and the minimal use of kitchenware. This dish was the perfect in this regard because it required zero utensils and zero cooking time. I wished that my grandmother was still alive so that I could ask her what they ate during the war. In fact it might be a good idea to start collecting such recipes I think they'll serve me well for another trip. (Note to self: Research war recipes)

I spent the rest of the evening having coffee and watching people cook in the kitchen. Here I met a Japanese guy named Ken; I can use his real name he's not going to be able to make sense of this text anyways. More interestingly I met a Czech rosy cheeked girl named Gatta. I noticed her first because she was cooking a really sophisticated dish [Liar], a sort of baked vegetable pie. We chatted for a while after dinner and even made fun of some people at our table. Wicked sense of humour she had. I like approachable people and she was most welcoming, down to earth and good fun. And just about to leave Franz Josef.