First Field Trip

After rejecting the idea of taking an afternoon nap yesterday, I decided to wander to the CBD (Central Business District) of Palmerston North. Destination: Crank It Cycles. My research prior to coming here indicated that some bike shops have a ‘buy-back’ policy in addition to the more traditional daily/weekly bike rental program. After inquiring as to how far I might want to ride this bicycle, the store manager showed me a well-used hybrid bicycle—one that still needed “a bit of work” before it left the store. Indeed. The deal would go like this: I pay them $250 and, assuming no ‘surprises’ in my journeys, they would pay me $125 upon its return at the end of my 4 week stay. Sounds good to me… providing the rear wheel doesn’t still wobble like that when it leaves the store with me.

I discovered a couple of other things during this first field trip beyond my motel room.

During some rather casual chit chat with the store manager (when, by the way, I was easily identified as Canadian) I was informed that I missed the 4:00 am earthquake that day. Margaret had informed me upon my arrival that Taupo (a town about 250km north of here) just experienced an earthquake, but somehow this did not translate into a reality that affected me until the store manager said that he felt it here, in ‘Palmy’. With a slight smile and shrug, he said “it was only about a 4 or so.” I see.

The second revelation for me during my field trip relates to the directions of left and right. I’ve visited many places where vehicles drive on the left side of the road. New Zealand is, of course, one such place. As a pedestrian, crossing a street here should really be just a matter of doing all the same things as I would in Canada, except in the reverse. Look one way, then the other, step off the curb and walk. There are only two possibilities: either the traffic is aiming at me from my right or from my left. Simple. So, why is it that my head moves back and forth so many times, left to right to left to right to left… in such a frantic manner? And then, just when I think I’m in the clear, I step off… and then immediately back on the curb to dodge a vehicle. Not so easy to disrupt and unlearn the learned, is it?

As I write this entry, I am listening to Radio National New Zealand on my clock radio. I’m picking up tidbits of news that prompt me to do a quick internet search on “Cyclone Wilma”. The headline reads: “Cyclone Wilma bearing down on the top of the North Island.” Hmmm. I was just there yesterday, taking photos of the sunrise. The good news (for me) is that Palmy is situated at the bottom of North Island. The rain falling ever so gently outside my motel room now seems like a blessing. And, so far, the earth is also still.