Scuba Steve and Taupo

So I ran into a serious issue when I first arrived in Taupo. I didn't have accomodation, so I befriended a girl on the bus who was headed to a backpackers and I figured I would follow her to see if they had rooms available. Well, she was staying at the uber swanky "Urban backpackers Lodge", where many- a- 18 year old UK backpacker living on their daddy's dollar were getting "on the piss" and recounting their awesome stories of skydiving after a night of hardcore partying at the sweet Element club. Then I discovered that the girl I had befriended was a complete stage 5 clinger, and I could not even go to the bathroom by myself without her following me into the toilet. And sometimes, you just want to be alone. So after already booking 2 nigths accomodation, I told the front desk that I found a massive bug in my bed and wanted to move out immediately. so I got my money back and successfully evaded the stage 5 clinger. WIN!

So I move up the street to "rainbow Lodge"...where everyone has dreadlocks, a nose ring, and the faint smell of unshowered hippies and cannibis lingers around every corner. It is quiet and nice, and I wanted a nice peaceful night to myself to kind of reflect on the things I have done, the people I've met, the next portions of my trip, and who I'm missing back home. And then, Scuba Steve enters.

Scuba Steve: 34, a dive instructor on the Whitsundays in Australia, used to be a massively successful business man who quit his job to pursue diving, and is now trying to sail on 50 million dollar yachts in the Carribean. He has taken time to travel so he can decide his own direction, etc, etc. Well, he happened to be the dive instructor on the same boat that I went on when I was in the Whitsundays, worked with my skipper and divemaster, so we got to chatting about that, the ocean, marine science, underwater stories, etc. But because of my recent encounter with Scuba Sam and my various other experiences with instructors of this sort, I let him in on my ideas about tour guides and and female backpacker relationship, and how I am thinking that this could possibly be an idea for a thesis if I should pursue higher studies in this area.

Well.

Scuba Steve found this AMAZING that I had figured out the benefits of being a guide, and immediately began telling me stories, tactics the boys use, certain lingo (BOB= best on board). One of the guys actually would call a cab while piss drunk the night before when he brings a girl back to his place to come at 7:30 in the morning, so when he wakes up, he fake reads a text about him needing to be somewhere and tells the girl, "ahh shit, I'm late, but there's a cab coming in 5 minutes so no worries!" And bounces. Insanity. So here I am now having an intelligent, academic, and deeply engaging conversation with a tour guide about all of these things, and I am not going to lie, it was absolutely fascinating. After about 5 hours of conversation, He's convinced I already have content enough for a book. Maybe I do. But then I also must note that scuba steve felt it was appropriate to use his guide-tactics on me, which I thought ironic considering we had just talked for 5 hours about how degrading I felt this all was. Sweet as.

Anyway, about Taupo- It's absolutely gorgeous out today, and the views across the lake are of Mt. Rhuapehu and Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings. The water is crystal clear, perfect for swimming, and Taupo the town its self is a nice little area. I like it here. Tomorrow, I am going to be hiking the Tongario Crossing, which is the sole reason I really wanted to come to the North Island in the first place, so I am SUPER PUMPED. 8 hours of trekking, but this time not with Kiwi geriatrics and not in the bush.