sapientia magis auro desideranda

saying goodbye is hard.

we left wellington yesterday for the south island, and are here at nelson now. it’s quite funny how all semester adam was bragging about nelson’s “hot and sunny weather”, but now that we are here it’s been cloudy and cold since last night. (it’s about 6pm now)

because adam and i ended our exams so late (7th and 8th nov respectively), and we were leaving on the 9th, juggling packing and studying became quite nonsensical. i spent saturday thus: examing in the morning, packing till 6 in the evening, dinner out with the guys and kris, and then sleeping early (the guys wanted to watch the all blacks against scotland at 650 in the morning), and i had to go for the early morning service.

on sunday: got back at about 1030ish to just, move out of helen lowry, and wait for the taxi which came slightly after 11. we needed to be at the ferry terminal before 12.

like i said, saying goodbye was hard. the twins and hung helped the three of us pack what we could into the taxi, but adam’s bicycle box wouldn’t fit in so he went to catch the bus, with jason helping him. i gave jason a long hug, and got teary.

i remember how the twins came into my room a couple of days ago, saturday i think, and they hung around while i packed. they tend to beat around the bush when saying something, so it usually ends up sounding really enigmatic, but eventually phil announced their intention, that “this is not goodbye, alright?”, because we would see each other again when they and adam come over to asia for exchange next year. it’s not often that the twins get as coherent as that, and i was touched.

so anyhow, jason and adam went off, and hung and phil got all our stuff in. phil hates touch, so i only had one briefly before he kind of tensed (haha), but because i was getting agitated i demanded another hug and he acquiesced. hung had no qualms about hugging, and gave me a nice bear hug. i started crying quite hard then, but it’s all such a scrumpled memory because we were getting into the taxi, doors slamming, and taxi driving off. my last memory of helen lowry hall will be phil looking into the taxi at me, with hung beside, and i am waving with red eyes.

kok soon gave me some time to calm down, and after awhile i asked him how much money he had. because i had none. so adventure 1: two of us announcing to the taxi driver that we were going into the ferry terminal with $25 max. haha.
but in the end it wasn’t too bad; the final fare was still under $30 and the driver was nice enough about it. kok soon went off to draw some money, and adam hadn’t arrived, so i waited with all the bags and boxes, and took pictures of wellington to while away time. somewhere in between, before kok soon left i think, i realised that a box had been left behind in helen: the box i had intended for our roadtrip. i.e, my packets of mee, and all my t-shirts and shorts. oh, and my togs (swim wear).

so adventure 2: rachel left behind her box in helen lowry = no t-shirts = only dresses for the roadtrip = all her yummy indomee and maggi mee packets intended for HER would have to be donated to the boys (argh).

i didn’t mind going on the roadtrip with dresses, only that i wasn’t sure if they weren’t too delicate and might not last the rough and tumble. i mourned for my bikini though, and eusoff singlets. i figured adam would bring my box along with him when he comes to nus in aug 09/10 for exchange, but i am very fond of my eusoff singlets. it was 11ish by then, so i figured it wasn’t worth the twins coming down to the ferry to send the box, because it would be too late anyway.

it wasn’t until 1200 that i found out that the ferry leaves at 1! the gate would close at 1245 so we had 45 minutes which was just enough. furious texting begin:

1159: adam to phil- rach left a b0x bhind, grab da b0x nd jump 0n da bus nd bring it 2 da bludbridge fery terminal, FAST.
1207: U 0n da bus yet? D0nt wory b0ut tapin it up
1212: 0n da t0p waldr0be the topmost box has rach.s name on it
1216: G0t b0x? 0n bus?
1224: Txt rachel wen ur on the bus

- there was only 20 minutes left, before we had to go on the ferry, and we had no word from the boys. i started praying-

1228: phil replies- We on now!!! What time are you’s exactly leaving??

- it was practically 1230! 15 mins more before we had to board the ship! -

1235: phil msgs- We pretty much still in karori. There’s so much people going on now,… it’s totally full.

- at that, we gave up. because karori is where helen lowry is. there was no way they would make it now. so adam sent a text to phil that we had to go, (the ship people were hurrying the 3 of us too), and asked if they could send it via post today (even though it was sunday and post offices are closed). i don’t really know what we were thinking by then. so we went up the ship, and stood looking at wellington. just looking, and suddenly i thought to check my phone again. and there was a text from phil, and it was like,

phil: No way we wasted a group day tripper for nothing. We’re almost there kinda… can’t you wait a little longer???

it was sent at 1240, but when we saw the text it was 1246.

and at that it was like, ahhh they’re almost here but we’re already up on the ship they’re not going to let us get down again to get the box-and then suddenly adam pointed and shouted and-

we saw the three of them at the traffic lights across the terminal!!!

talk about adrenaline. adam started texting furiously, i was running around yelping that we had to find a staff member who would help us, and kok soon was just, trying to calm us down i think. i was running off to find a staff when adam shouted again at me, and i turned and ran back to the deck. to see a staff carrying my box into the ship.

i’ll never know what happened in between, or how they managed to convince the staff to bring it into the ship when everything was moving, or how they managed to make there in the first place. adam and kok soon said it was “just like the movies”, the boys generally boasted that they treated it was “mission impossible and accomplished it” (cue MI music haha), but i know, it’s because my God answers prayers and makes impossible missions, possible. (:

sooo. we’ll be in nelson for today, and start our roadtrip tomorrow. it means we have to pick up a day somwhere else, either kaikora or queenstown, but i think it’s alright even if we end on the first because we have a day to spare anyway. we spent today going around nelson running a couple of errands, after lunching at adam’s uncle’s and auntie’s place. i am pretty much in awe at the self-sufficiency of the kiwis, and the way they teach themselves to build houses. i have quite decided, that my future husband’s going to be as willing to be as hands on and learn about cool stuff like building houses even if that happens when he’s 45.

alright, long update. i’ll pretty much end off now. packing after dinner, and then it’s off for the road tomorrow. we’ll be shopping for food, gas (for the cooker) and stuff. i’ve been trying to convince the boys to get travel wash. excitement!