Chapter Five
Back Road Adventure
Two days later and the five travellers decided to head south. They wanted to travel along the East Coast as much as possible, through Auckland then around the Coromandel, Tauranga and then to Rotorua. The plan after that would take them straight down through Taupo to Wellington. Rachel would then catch the train back up to Auckland because she had to leave New Zealand and head home. Rachel had been around the South Island on an trip with her family years before because her Grandmother had lived in Christchurch until her death five years prior to the current time and did not have to see the area again.
Alex and Lucy threw the last of their bags in the back of the rental van they had hired indefinitely for their journey toward Whangarei, which was their destination for tonight. It was normally only about one hours drive from Paihia but they were going to travel down some pretty bad roads in the next few hours and it would take quite a while to manoeuvre around the steep and twisting road. The Lodge owners had warned the group about the quality of the road and how different it would be to what they were used to but they were willing to take the risk to get some good photographs of the ocean. Lucy was doing the first stint of driving as they left Paihia and travelled down to Opua to catch the car ferry across the Bay. Averill was the navigator and was adamant no one was going to get lost on her watch. Alex, Kaylen and Rachel all piled in the back and they began their journey.
Ten minutes after leaving tar seal, which was not very far after leaving the car ferry, they had to pull over so Rachel could heave her breakfast over the ferns on the side of the road. The road was definitely not what any of them were used to in their journeys around the world. It was twisty, dusty gravel, and only really one and a half lanes with no markings. Rachel was moved to be navigator and Averill moved back. Another ten minutes along the road and the van was stopped again, this time for Averill to vomit on the side of the road. She refused to get back into the van unless it was the front. There was a small middle seat and Averill told everyone she would willingly sit there if she could be in the front. The journey continued with three in the front seat and two in the next row back.
They stopped in a small town called Oakura because they all needed a break from travelling and Lucy wanted to do something fun. They found a place that took short one hour horse treks around a farm with a small bush to travel through and Rachel and Averill agreed to go along. Kaylen and Alex had never ridden horses before so decided to look through the few shops in the small town and then sit in the van while they waited. They waved as the girls rode off on their horses and walked away to the van to drive into town. They would return in one hour to pick up the horse smelling girls and continue down the road towards Whangarei.
When Alex and Kaylen arrived in Oakura they were surprised that there were more people sitting outside the shops than there were customers inside. Alex continued to become more and more agitated at the state of the town. It was very rough with many abandoned shops and the local people didn�t look like that had jobs. He avoided making comments in the vicinity of the people but once they had bought food and headed back to the van Alex could not help himself. �Kaylen, how can they survive like that? Why do they just sit there like they have no other options!? How can this government just let them live in this way? I know the USA have an appalling record of looking after their poor and needy, but I thought New Zealand would be a bit better!�
�Alex, calm down! You have no idea what these people�s experiences have been or what has brought them to this point. Some of those people may have chosen to live that life, with guaranteed money each week and the ability to just sit around watching the tourists and the world pass them by. You are not allowed to sit here and judge these people and their country when you do not know anything about them. I am not saying that you should look at everything with rose tinted glasses, there will be a lot of people in this situation that have not chosen to be without employment and live handout to handout. I think you really need to read some of the local literature. There is a great amount of quality literature available about the situation of specifically Maori in this country. I read some of it when I completed my Master�s Thesis. I really think you should read Once Were Warriors; it is by a local author called Alan Duff. You can at least gain some understanding of the Maori perspective and what has happened over the last few decades. I will also look out for other titles. It isn�t a happy story but it is a realistic story.� Kaylen began to eat her Steak and Cheese pie while Alex sat back and thought about what she had said, of course she was right. Kaylen was the one who had studied the relationship of literature from cultures around the world and the depiction of true to life realism.
They drove back towards the horse trek farm and were surprised about the number of vehicles and people milling around outside and in the car park. They were also surprised to see a helicopter parked in the middle of all the people and vehicles. If they could not believe that then the sight of Lucy running towards them yelling was another shock. But what came next was even more frightening. �Rachel had a really bad fall and is unconscious and can�t move and they had to get the helicopter and now they are flying her to Auckland to the trauma centre�. The helicopter took off over their heads as Lucy finished talking. Averill came running over with their bags and threw them into the back of the van. Everything smelt like horse but at this stage they didn�t care. They all jumped back into the van and took off towards the quickest way back to the main road and raced as legally as they could toward Auckland, which was at least three and a half hours away. It was a fairly quiet trip except for Averill and Lucy explaining what had happened. The girls had been galloping along the farm track when they came to a gateway. Rachel was first and her horse suddenly reared up and fell backwards onto its back, crushing her in the process. Averill rode quickly back to the horse trek base and told them what had happened while Lucy stayed with Rachel and tried to keep her calm until help arrived. Luckily one of the horse owners was a trained ambulance officer and knew to phone the helicopter immediately and it flew out from Whangarei.
It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon before the group arrived at the Hospital and found where Rachel had been taken. She was in surgery getting pins put in her two broken legs and having internal injuries repaired. Luckily there looked to be no immediate damage to the spinal column. They all sat and waited for more news and to see Rachel before leaving to find somewhere to stay. It was only because there were no family in New Zealand that any of them were able to go into Rachel's room to see her after coming out of recovery. Alex and Kaylen waited outside while Averill and Lucy went into see her. There were tubes, machines and various other things hooked up to various parts of Rachel's body. Things were beeping so they knew it was a good thing. They went and stood by her head and sat there waiting for any movement or sound from Rachel. She opened her eyes and tried to smile to her friends. They held her hand and talked quietly.
Outside the room Kaylen was silent and wondering what it was like for her mother when she died. They said it had been instant and she wouldn't have suffered. Her father didn't have any reason to come to hospital either. Both her parents were dead and not once had she sat beside them and cried while things beeped and let her know they were there or not there. Mind you she wouldn't have sat beside her father except if her mother was there. Kaylen would have been there for her mother. Alex had been in this situation only once before. His best friend during their teenage years died of cancer and Alex had sat beside his bed and watched him drift off to sleep, never to wake again. It had been a really hard time for him, but at least he had the chance to say goodbye, not like Kaylen. Rachel wasn't going to die but she would have a long recovery ahead of her. Once she was stable, probably in about two weeks, she would be prepared for the long trip and airlifted to the United States on a direct flight. When she had recovered some more Rachel would then make the final flight and would be sent to a local hospital in Vancouver, where her family lived. Another two hours later the four remaining friends booked into their backpacker lodge, the same one they stayed in earlier, showered and grabbed something to eat before going to bed exhausted from their mammoth day experience.
The next day Averill and Lucy headed back to the hospital. Alex and Kaylen decided they would go and see Rachel later, this morning they were going to do something enjoyable (and together). They walked downtown, stopping at a bookshop so Alex could buy the books recommended by Kaylen. Alex offered to buy coffee so they stopped off at a little caf� in the ferry terminal, they would later be catching a boat across to Devonport to look around another part of the city. "Kaylen, can I talk to you about something?" Alex drank his coffee and knew his little chat couldn't wait, especially not after what had happened to Rachel.
Yeah, sure. I hope you like those books. I found them really useful when I did my thesis and they came highly recommended by an acquaintance of mine who had seen the movie of that book, then read it and embarked on coming to this place and seeing it first hand. But when you really think about it, things aren't that different that most places around the world. I'll let you read the book and then you tell me what you think." Kaylen was referring to Once Were Warriors, a New Zealand book that was turned into a dramatic movie that has gained both censure and praise.
"I'm not talking about the book. I want to talk about us," Kaylen sat up and listened more intently as Alex changed his tone to one she had never heard him use before, "I think I am beginning to like you as more than a friend. I don't know what it is about you but you are just so interesting and mysterious. You suffered the loss of both of your parents and then you had this epiphany and travelled half-way round the world only to discover this great spiritual connection".
"Wow! What a shock that one was. I was not expecting you to say that. I'm flattered but I just don't know how to respond. I know I should probably fulfil a mode of obligation in accepting you and let myself get swept off my feet. I just have never thought about you in that way and I have only known you for a little over a week." Kaylen put down her coffee and seriously studied Alex's countenance. I suppose he was all right looking in some British kind of way, mind you she hadn't had a lot of experience when it came to men. There had been a few boys in the past and her longest relationship was about a year and two months. Kaylen had always had other things on her mind like books and studying to be something that she hadn't really discovered yet. Alex was definitely a nice guy and maybe if they got to know each other more things could develop.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything; it was just with the whole Rachel situation it put things in perspective. I have always just waited for the right time to do everything, until now. I realised that if something can happen to Rachel then something might happen to anyone of us. I knew I had to take this once chance we have had to be alone to tell you how I felt. I'm sorry if it isn't the right time and you don't feel we know much about each other. I just don't think I can sit back and just be your friend without you knowing how I really feel. Also, when you think about it we have spent nearly every moment since we met together, that one week seems a lot longer. I have said enough, I think I should just go." Alex put down his coffee cup, picked up his bag and began to walk away down the wharf. Kaylen sat there shocked for a moment, but reality set in and she knew what she had to do, even if it just meant he stopped and talked to her. She ran off down the wharf after Alex, spun him around while putting her arms around his neck and planting her lips on his. The kiss deepened on both sides. Kaylen was not an ice princess who had no feelings, she could definitely feel this and it was nice!