Waikaremoana’08

I

was in the jungles of Urewera deep deep deep down pass hundred mountains filled with horses and goats camping in the colds of Waikaremoana under the stars in an open freezing Gazebo, not a tent with hundreds of terrorists. And anarchists!

The local buses do not work on New Year's day 1.1.2008 and the following day - the 2nd Jan, which I feel is to nurse hangovers. We worked on the 31st and I already had a good feeling about 2008. I had texted Chooks several times from my Telecom phone and she had been texting me back on my Vodafone that was back home. I have two vodafones and one telecom. Don't ask me why that is so.

This makes me worse than Ravi Varma who has six cell phones, four tvs, three stereos, two laptops, two wives, two mothers! Simran and mom.

Luckily Chooky came to Hamilton the previous night. Chookie is a big Maori woman with a big Maori heart and they were giggling. Chooky's other occupation besides being an activist and a freedom fighter, is a giggler. She was giggling since the cops left her and her cousin at the door step and Mr. Allen announced her in. It was a warm night and after Chooky having fixed the pick-up time next morning. I wished Mom and Ravi and Simu and Lavina a happy new year.

It was an uneasy warm humid night and I did not get much sleep. And was ready and economically packed at 6:00 am. Chooks came at 6:18 and early morning farmlands around the Mormon Temple with green yellow hay and endless mountain scenery was just the beginning. We reached her uncle's house in ten minutes and I had a huge marmalade toast green tea marmite breakfast.

Initially I tried to help in tying the big Gazebo and an old bed mattress on top of the car but there were so many trials and errors and combinations that I decided to let my ex-army, ex-truck driver, ex-nurse Chookie handle it.