Tired again.

I'm tired again because this time, there was a local music event (like there is almost every night except this time I decided I'd go despite the $10 cover charge which, incidentally was generously paid for by my host) that ended at 3am in the morning with us dancing atop large beautifully handcrafted wooden tables in a small but impressive bar at Market Cross in Karamea. The live music was just a guy and his guitar, and he played mainly love ballad type songs that were sort of fine for an older crowd but a lil low key for a Friday night in a pub. But then, after he was sufficiently drunk he invited this Nova Scotia chick to join him playing her violin. Then, it was a great ol' honky tonky git down. And like I said, we ended up dancing on the tables. Quality.

Also, I feel old. I was visited by the ghost of Christmas future or some bullshit like that because. sigh. well before I launch into it, let's first say, I'm feeling old. Oh? Did I already mention that. Well as a 22 year old I feel old, and I don't want to hear anything from people who are older. I don't care how old you are.

So, I feel like my old man life officially started last night because, lo and behold, a fairly cute girl was bar tending and we were making good conversation. I can't say I was that interested but thought it was harmless and why not have fun yeah? So, me, being rather unpracticed in the whole chat people up in a bar atmosphere, stumbled through a couple hours chatting and flirting with this chick. Normally, I'd talk and talk and talk and end up just making some what of a fool of myself, so it was surprising to myself (adding to my feeling of oldness) that when I wasn't sure what to say, I said nothing at all. I felt altogether like a different guy, some other guy from a movie or something. But yeah. I'll skip to the punchline, the girl was 16. SIXTEEN. Now, normally, for me, that wouldn't be that old, except now I'm TWENTY TWO. Six years. well for me. that sounds like a lot. I felt like some old ex-pat flirting with the local underage women in some hot humid tropical bar. Which is basically what this was. So go figure. Multiple times I found myself listening more to my astonished mind asking, "What are you doing?" than to whatever she happened to be talking about at the moment.

The flies in the hostel are going nuts over Luna's deer carcass soup that's been boiling on the stove for 2 days now.

So yeah, I ended up having to pull a classic Sean disappearance act at the end of the evening. Partly because I could no longer afford the $4.50 organic Lager's I'd been drinking (they were really good) and because it was 3 am and because I was getting trapped into a potentially awkward, growing alarming situation with a SIXTEEN year old girl. It was one of those times where you just let your shoulders sag because, "What are you supposed to do?" So after one final song on the tabletop. Helping her get down because she was "really drunk" in that sort of tipsy neophyte way. Sigh. I disappeared when she went behind the bar to get another drink. Sprinting down the deserted late night into and out of pools of yellow streetlight, and yes, you can picture this, giggling to myself wildly the whole way. When I heard a car coming from behind me I leapt off the road and stood behind a small telephone pole chest heaving. Rotating around as the car drove by I stayed out of sight hoping not to encounter my ride home whose sobriety was undoubtedly questionable. Flushed with the heat of the humid night and the exhilaration of my scandalous encounter and subsequent flight, I crept silently into the hostel and went to bed. My final thought before crashing into the Land of Nod, was a half formed, "what are you doing?" My twenty push-ups this morning were pretty difficult.

So yeah. Today I've had to do a fair bit of work. But we have a BBQ scheduled for dinner this evening and potentially a bonfire or a movie night. The hostel emptied out yesterday? today? so it's pretty quiet around here since we haven't anyone new checking in. Marie the Frenchwoman left to continue her travels and soon Sarah the Irishwoman will be gone as well. Leaving Luna the Dane and Johannes the German with me. I plan to stay another week and then make my way down and across the island to Timaru where I will be WWOOFing with a young couple who travel around and sell strawberries and ice cream at arts and music festivals. Sounds fun enough yeah? i think it will be a nice way to end my time in New Zealand.

I am still trying to consider whether or not I want to pop over to Australia for a week or two before returning home. I probably won't but it's pretty darn tempting. We'll see. I met someone here who offered a free place to stay in Melbourne (a place I have never been) and spoke very very highly of it...which is the place I was considering visiting beforehand anyway, so we'll see. Whatever.