A story of the bus traveling variety

March 21st– on the way to Mt. Maunganui

We were due to get off at the stop just before the last stop. The last stop would be Tauranga. Our stop was Mt. Maunganui.

When the driver announced “This is Tauranga, the end of the line” I called out that we were supposed to get off in Mt. Maunganui. The driver said “What's the name?” Thinking that he did not understand my pronunciationation of Mt. Maunganui, I said it again with a harder 'g'. He said again, “What's the name?” So, I said “Mt. Maunganui”, this time with a softer 'g'. Finally, when he asked again, Liz hollered out “Foster”.

The driver asked “Did you have luggage?” And, we said yes. “Two suitcases and an orange backpack.” “Oh-no!”, he blurted. The last people's name was Foster and they pointed at all the luggage as if it was their's.” So, he had pulled away, leaving our luggage on the curb for the other Fosters.

He tried to calm us down and said he'd take us to Mt. Maunganui, but first he'd have to go to the stop with our luggage. That was a about a 20 minute ride, but it seemed like forever as my imagination went wild about what I would miss if someone picked up our luggage. I started to watch out of the front of the bus for people walking or running down the street with all or part of the determinedly. Liz determinely worked on her Sudoku.

Well, as fate would have it, our stuff survived the 40 or so minutes on the bus stop curb. As a result, I have a few more ideas about what I should carry with me from here on out. Top of the list is my recording equipment and disks of recordings that I've made along the way. I'd hate to lose those.

A credit to the honesty of uncounted folks who passed our luggage and didn't think to have a pilfer. There's a good thing about New Zealand.

There's pictures from our time in Mt. Maunganui on the Mac site, by the way. And, a few more compilations, too.