Bus Stop Tizzy

now that paul's in school during the week we are trying to make to most of our weekends. this time we were expanding our exploration via ferry. we decided on waiheke island. we weren't sure what we were going to do when we got there but all journeys begin with a single step so we stepped onto the ferry. it filled to max occupation and we started to skim across the water. thirty minutes later we arrived. everyone stood up and resembling a herd of cattle slowly made our way to the exit ramp. as we were inching along down the steps of the top deck i heard american accents behind me. i took a quick glance to see their faces and realized they were talking to the girl immediately on my left and by immediate i mean i could have sipped on the coffee cooler she was holding and she wouldn't have noticed. i looked at her. i'm almost embarrassed to say i knew who she was. none other than the quirky boutique cashier from disney's 'the suite life of zack and cody': miss ashley tisdale. in my defense i'll state that when you are babysitting and the kid is napping and you can't figure out how to explore the other 956 channels for fear of not being able to change it back you often have no other choice but to watch the disney channel. i'm not well versed in the ways of the popular and famous but i'm gonna guess that if some well-known person is on an obscure crowded ferry going to a obscure island with little to no fanfare they probably don't want to be recognized. i could be wrong but i'm thinking they would periodically get sick of being called out in a crowd. i know i would. i was more interested in making conversation merely because they were american and when you're scuttling along like farm animals with absolutely no personal space it sometimes makes it less awkward. sometimes? i turned to one of the guys that was with her and asked him where they were from. he happily responded, 'oh, california'. then he asked me the same question. i told him i was from denver, colorado but recently moved with my husband to auckland. he replied with a 'wow, that's cool' and tapped the girl on the arm saying 'hey, ashley, they're from denver, colorado.' she glanced up and replied with a less than enthusiastic, 'oh, huh'. i asked the guy if they were staying in auckland, he said they were, more specifically at the hyatt. i contemplated joking why they weren't increasing paris' inheritance by staying at the hilton but didn't think it would go over very well. at this point the two bigger guys pulling up the rear were starting to eye me in a bodyguard type protective fashion. so i dropped it by adding 'oh, that's cool'. the foot traffic started to pick up speed so i caught up with paul and we closed in on the exit. we left the ferry in search of adventure. we weren't sure how big the island was but we were pretty sure we didn't want to walk the entire thing. we headed to the rental area of all things on wheels. after discovering all renting options were well beyond what we intended to spend for the day we decided on braving the bus system. we purchased two all-day bus passes for $8 a piece. not bad. now, where to catch a bus. after getting some vague direction from the ticket man we stepped up to edge of the sidewalk. we still must have looked confused (possibly betrayed by the opened map in our hands) because a gentleman came up and asked if we needed help. he said the next bus would be along in 15 minutes but if we didn't want to wait, the next swim-able beach was only a 15 minute walk away. not wanting to waste any time on this beautiful day we decided to walk it. what started out as impatience to wait for a bus turned into an all day hike zig-zagging across the width and breadth of the entire island. we stopped for lunch, we stopped for a swim, we took pictures along the way but every time we stopped for a bus we would wait for what seemed an eternity, no matter how many others were waiting at a particular bus stop. by the end of the day we made it to the other end of the island and since daylight wasn't going to hold out for us we found the next closest bus stop and waited. we waited...and waited...and waited. others came and waited and went. some making conversation with us, some just standing with us but inevitably they would stick out a thumb for a free ride or a taxi ride or start walking. what kind of bus system was this?? we had yet to use our passes and were now determined to wait till a bus came even if that meant till the last supposedly scheduled bus at 11:30 that night. as the sun was sinking and all but a flicker of hope was gone, one screeched to a stop, nearly running us over. we bounced up the steps with excitement and proudly flashed our passes. what had taken us about 6 hours to walk took us about 20 minutes on the return. it was the first vehicle i had been in since arriving over a month ago and it felt like we were breaking the sound barrier. paul said, "my poor wife', giving me a condescending pat, 'you think we're flying when we're only on a bus." it truly is relative. we made it to the ferry landing just as another one was loading. at least the ferries stay on schedule. we found some seats, this time below deck and zoned out, amused at the irony of 'all-day' bus passes. it takes you all day just to catch one. we landed in auckland, exited and walked the five blocks home.