Leaving Taupo, Katie, Brian and I were driving along the highway looking for hitchhikers. We were cruising toward Mercer where Katie and Brian would drop me off with John and Robyn (the couple in Whangerei who had housed our group of seven back in October and given us the car to use during our stay in New Zealand) and then Katie and Brian would continue on to the Coromandel peninsula for the weekend (Katie was taking Brian to Karuna Falls where she and I had wwoofed with Stephanie).
We were keen to find hitchhikers because we owed the universe a debt. After dozens of rides and thousands of free miles we needed to repay the favor and continue the cycle of good deeds.
An hour into our drive we spotted two young guys, overloaded with bags, sitting on the side of the road.
“Are you two hitchhiking!” We all cheered.
“Um, yeah.” They said, a bit taken aback by our enthusiasm. They got in the car anyway.
Sam and Andy, two Kiwi guys in their early 20s, were heading north after spending the holiday with their families. Sam was returning to his job in Whangerei as a boat builder, and Andy was staying with cousins in Sandy Bay in order to improve his surfing skills.
Coincidently I was heading to Whangerei with John and Robyn to see if I could volunteer as a crew member on any sailboat heading to Australia or the Pacific Islands (I've always wanted to learn to sail and many boats leaving the Whangerei marina will take on novice crew-members to assist the skipper, or so I had been told by a French girl who picked Katie and I up in the South Island. I was motivated to follow my dream through, so I was planning to stay with John and Robyn in Whangerei until someone took me aboard).
Sam offered to show me around the harbor and ask around on my behalf.
Unfortunately all the contacts in the world couldn't get me on a boat. My timing coincided with the hurricane season and no one was planning a trip across the Tasman until April. I networked at every major harbor north of Auckland , but nothing was to be found. I've enjoyed my search, however, thanks to our hichhikers.
Andy spent the day with me while I toiled around Auckland's massive marina, which is the largest in the Southern Hemishphere. And Sam and his friends here in Whangerei, where I've been crashing at John and Robyn's for almost two weeks, have included me in on nights on the town, jet skiing, wakeboarding and BBQs. They have done many more favors for me than the hour drive they hitched with Katie, Brian and I deserved.
I don't know what I did to deserve such good fortune, but it will be a challenge to repay in this lifetime
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