In one of my cost saving efforts, I decided to try hitching again today. This time I was on the road and heading to the town of Wanganui in the hopes of hiring a kayak. Not so simple as it turns out. Apparently no companies will allow you to kayak the river by yourself. As Mark from "blazing Paddles," out of Ohakune informed me. "It's very dangerous and you have to go as part of a group." Anyone who really knows me understands that I am not a group kind of fellow. Because of time constraints, I will plan to come back at the end of February and see if I can complete this one along with other paddling adventurers.
So back to the hitching. There I was at the side of the road, having already been picked up once by a friendly and amiable chap from Taupo, when a blue van pulled over and started to roll back towards me. I went to the driver's side window and soon recognized a heavy Yorkshire accent similar to my uncles Don's from my childhood in England. "Hop in" he said, made even stranger when I realized that my driver was missing his left leg. He had one of those titanium prosthetic legs. Very state of the art, and very shiny.
I don't know why, but for me these types of situations often cause a certain level of stress. It was like the elephant in the room or in this case the blue van. We were making small talk and here he was completely missing his left leg. Do you ask where's your leg? Do you talk about all of the hiking you've been doing. I was quite unsure of what the correct amputee protocol was at this point. It ws then that the conversation turned to fishing. Apparently my driver (James), was an avid fisherman. He then went on to tell me how some of his friends had hooked a juvenile Great White shark. He informed me that there are plenty of them around the coast of New Zealand. I never found the courage to ask him about the leg, nor did he offer any explanation. I could only conclude that it had to be a Great White.
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