Wellington Whirlwind Weekend

So I am back in my old stomping grounds, Welly. It feels good to be back, there's a coming home vibe and it is nice to be in the one place in NZ that I really know. I am back in town for the NZ Ultimate National tournament but more on that in a second. For the weekend I am staying with the Milnes, the family Ben and I stayed with during out first two weeks in the city.

Tonight was great. It was awesome to see the Milnes again, I really enjoy the family. They have been so generous to us and for me are very representive of the Kiwi reputation for friendliness and good will. By chance they were having a little family dinner party. Chris' (the father) mother, sister and her nine and eleven year old girls were over. It was the nine year olds birthday tomorrow so it was a bit of celebration. The girls were great; the nine year old had an outgoing 'look at me, look at me, look at me' personality and the eleven year old was more understated and clever. We took to each other almost right away and spent most of the time leading up to dinner talking and playing 20 questions and 'I spy'. Both of the girls were also absolutely adorable. It's crap like this that is gonna get me stuck with kids of my own someday I'm afraid. Dinner was great with eleven of us crammed on a 6-8 person table. We shared some stories of our travels and the epic tale of our car breaking down and getting fixed had the crowd in stiches. After dinner the extended family went home and I resumed my previous post as resident math tutor helping Lucy, the fourteen year old, prepare for a test tomorrow.

Tomorrow should be a good day. I'm going bright and early into the city and will spend the day enjoying some of my favorite haunts. I'll get the Roti Chani from Satay Kingdom for lunch and stop in for a Flat White (NZ espresso drink similar to a Latte) at Astoria. Even better tomorrow is the first day of a test (5 Day) cricket match. It's the national team, the 'Black Caps' taking on India so it should be good. Were going to stop by for a few hours (they'll be playing for about six tomorrow) at the Basin Reserve, one of the best places to see cricket in the country. That Night I'll drop by the Baxi headquarters and surprise Tom, my old boss and friend and if I'm lucky his girlfriend and co-owner Vicki. They are two of the closest friends I've made here and it will be great to see them. After that I will be headed to the suburb of Brooklyn to a favorite bar, the Cornerstore, where I will be meeting our team for this weekend for drinks and will do my best to avoid getting pressured into taking multiple shots by the manager Joe.

I'm really looking forward to the weekend. The five of us out here managed to scrape together six more players (four of which are good, two of which are eh) to make our own team for the national tournament. It won't exactly be the level of play that I left back in that states but considering how out of shape and out of practice I am that is likely a good thing. Were just a pickup team, we haven't even all met yet, the five arizona guys and six kiwis. Our team name is the 'Coaltion of the Thrilling' a pun on Coalition of the Willing. I honestly don't know our chance because I don't have much of a concept of the competition we will be facing. There are ten teams and I'll be surprised it we aren't in the top four. We could also just win the damn thing. No matter what it will be the best disc I've played in ten months. This will be the fourth and last tournament I play in New Zealand. Ultimate in NZ has had it's ups and downs but most importantly it has once again put me in touch with great, high quality people who have become my friends. With the country being so small it's sometimes like one big ultimate community which is amazing. There are a number of people I will miss and will very likely never see again.

That is also what has hit me, saying goodbye. I don't leave the country for five weeks but after the end of the tournament on Sunday I head with Scooter immediately a couple hours north to spend a couple weeks working at the vineyard I worked at before to fund my last few weeks of travel. I won't be back in Wellington after that and other than a chance of catching a few Auckland Ultimate players on my way out of the country there is a lot of people to say goodbye to this weekend. The Milnes, my baxi friends, and ultimate friends comprise the strong majority of the people that have had an impact on me during my time here and after this weekend I will probobly never see them again. Its ... shitty. It's part of the deal when you live the transient lifestyle I guess, but it kind of sucks. For now though I am going to concentrate of having a great weekend. Besides the weather is supposed to be good tomorrow and like they say, "you can't be a good day Wellington".