Driving became Serious Business in central Auckland.  It’s a city that’s pretty unforgiving if you muck up and realise you’re in the wrong lane or something.  It was also raining just enough to give the road a sheen that made it almost impossible to make out lane markings at intersections.  Jase was busy looking at the road and I was busy looking at the maps.  I looked up just in time to see us casually run a red light, causing a taxi to slam on its breaks and a pedestrian DIVE out of the way.  It was one of those situations that isn’t funny but it is.  I laughed.  Then we got pulled over by a cop.

He was jolly and Irish and asked us if we’d seen that guy we almost killed.  “I’m sorrrrrry” I wailed.  “We’re tourists”.
“Well you’re a wee bit unlucky.  It’s Intersection Week in Auckland and we’re paying extra mind to those breaking the rules”
I asked our Aucklander friend later about this and he reckoned this guy just made that up.  “Where are you going”, he continued.
“Just around the corner actually, according to Google Maps.”
“Alright well let me tell you something.  Around that corner is another red light.  You should probably stop at that one.  It’s outside a University and I don’t fancy the chances for the student who has to take on this truck”.
He laughed, vaguely asked for an address, told us he didn’t care what address we gave him and walked off.  He never sent the fine.

TINY HOTEL WAS TINY.  Bout the same as my room at home, except it fit a bedroom a kitchen and a sofa in it.  It was silently decided that my brother and his mate will also be staying with us, due to lack of my brothers planning, which had led to a CAN I STAY WITH YOU text the day before.

The concert was very good.  Although we had upstairs seated tickets, no one was really checking them and we could have joined the masses moshing below if we had wanted.  I.. was ok not doing it.  Is this growing up?  Wanting to watch a concert instead of getting stood on and smashed up in a pit?  I feel like I’ve sold out somehow.  I’ll admit, I ended up dancing as hard by myself in aisles upstairs as I would have downstairs so maybe it made no difference.  I think Rise Against were better the first time I saw them, about 5 years ago I guess.  The lead singer could still scream like he meant it back then and I felt this time around it was a little short.  And they didn’t play my favourite song.  Hmm.

We met back up with the group and went out to look for a taxi.  I love punk gigs.  Everyone is just so friendly.  We watched some bogan rark his matte black piece of shit V4 down the street, eventually losing control, did a full 180 and smashed into a taxi.  It was hilarious.  Then he burnt off again. 20 seconds later another piece of shit casually rolled past missing a tyre.  Not even related.

It was a hungover morning driving back down to Ohakune.  We had a late start up the mountain and quickly realised it wasn’t the best weekend to go up.  School holidays plus not all the lifts were open = far too many people in one spot.  Aside from that it was fun.  I’m still pretty useless but I’m not creating a huge pile up of bodies off the chairlifts like I used to.