Supermarket Sweep

Does “awful” come from “offal”, because that stuff’s not great. Yesterday Chris and I went to the supermarket and, as we perused the countless colourful choices of fruit and nut themed snack-bars, were plunged into utter darkness. Supermarkets are never dark, they hum and crackle with light, but this supermarket fell darker than dark. Because I’ve seen too many horrible movies I assumed the Woolworth’s was being taken over by crazies in ski masks, with Russian, German or Middle Eastern accents. The bad guys would communicate with each other in accented English, not in their native tongue. I scooted closer to Chris, angled the shopping cart in front of us and then for good measure pinched his T-shirt so he wouldn’t disappear into the darkness without me. Five seconds later the lights flickered back on, powered by the generator. Not all of the lights shone, the refrigerated sections lost their lustre to keep their cool, the offal section sat dim. I hadn’t noticed that refrigerator before. In America I thought Scrapple was the greatest most hilarious food product ever, and here an entire case is devoted to gastrointestinal odds and ends.

I don’t have a hat, but Chris does, and soon it will be hanging in a new home—a home with walls, a roof, carpeting, three flatmates and no wheels. We’ve had a few days of rain and wind and realised this caravan is far from water tight. When the rain really comes down we have a xylophonic symphony of drips and dribbles into pots, pans, teacups, a bucket and the rubbish bin. Apparently winter around here is quite wet (though it’s still gloriously summer for now) so we’ve decided to look for an actual house to stay in. Oh yeah, and we’re not able to camp for free as we’ve passed the mark into “permanency” and that costs 130 NZ$ a week. Rainy weather can be born if you’re living for free, but since we’ll have to pay regardless we may as well move closer to the town and enjoy centralized heating.

The first place we looked at was perfect. It’s only a bit further from the ocean, though still very much within walking distance, and it’s much closer to a bus stop and the major supermarket/indoor mall/batting cages(!!) part of town. Our flatmates seem wonderful, the perfect mixes of geeky and interesting, shy and friendly. Since they have wifi we’ll both post a blog soon and tell you all about Sarah, Justin and Kieran. And the cats. It’s sad to say goodbye to the friends we’ve made at the lovely Beach Grove Holiday Park, but we’ll be only minutes away and hope to visit from time to time.