Thanks to the purple eared lady....

Well things have been going as things always do around here. Today we are relaxing at home somewhat intentionally somewhat due to lack of vehicle. We planned on going down to Hastings today to enjoy the Spring Festival and parade that is happening there this weekend but due to lack of transport and laziness we are home in our flat enjoying doing little projects such as washing clothes. Washing clothes is a new experience here, because the washing machines are little and we do not have a drier but be have sunshine an a clothes-line in our backyard. Doing the wash has become more of a ritual and we are actually enjoying shacking the clothes out and pinning them up on the line in the morning air as the sun lingers it way across the sky.
Why do we not have a car today you might be wondering?
Here is the long version of the story it may sound like a tangent and that it maybe but you will get your answer eventually. This week has been a rough one that is on my knees and elbows I have fallen off my bike three times this week thats right three. You may not count one of the tumbles a real fall because I never actually contacted pavement but there is reason for that being a railing. Yes, a railing. While crossing a bridge I decided to stop and admire the view which was quite nice I must say but when I tried to get going on my bike again I realized the stopping may not have been the best idea. At this point I must describe my bike a little. We decided to purchase cheap bikes you know in the ten to five dollar range our logic being they would be good to get around town on and we would not have to worry about locking them up. The bikes we got are not bad but the tires lets say are a little skwishy and there are some rattling noises and rusty parts they also take ample amount of space to get started on. Thus as I was trying to get the bike moving while I was on a bridge were I had a little more then shoulder wide space to move I had some trouble getting going. On my third and final attempt I fell into the railing causing a sharp pain in my left upper arm it was at this point I decided I would be walking my bike the rest of the way accross the bridge.
The second fall was happened in a parking lot. We decided to go to one of the local bike shops and look at the cheaper new bikes they had available. They let us test ride a few of the bikes out in the parking lot behind their shop. Silly me I was wearing a hat with a front bill not good when you need your peripheral vision and just as I was starting round the corner I realized a car was pulling into the driveway. This gave me a bit of a shock because I did not seem him turning in, so I fell.
The last and greats fall happened yesterday on my way home from Napier. I decided to try biking into Napier to see what the ride was like by bike it took about thirty minutes for me to get into Napier from our flat. After doing some yoga I got back on my bike to make my way home. As I was crossing a street a car started turning toward me so began moving over a to the left. There are these curb like thing in the road around here in places such as cross walks or when the road changes from asphalt to coblestone. There just happened to be one of these little curbs where I was moving into and it caused my body to move left but not my bike. The final Crash of the week! I was a bit shook up and feeling home sick this week so I started crying as I picked up my bike and pushed it along the sidewalk. Sheesh! Just then some people were pulling into the KFC (there is one Kentucky Fried here in Napier) driveway. They yelled out their window "Are you alright?" I tried to just wave them on but a woman got out of the car and came over to me trying to find out what happened. The next thing I new a young guy with Robo-cop sunglasses on and oiled down wavey hair was putting my bike in the back of their SUV. They told me they would take me home. I got up into the passangers set next to the woman with purple ears. It looked as though she had recently got her hair dyed dark black because the dye around the edges of her face and ear stained her skin a nice violet. Her name was Susan and the guy with the greased down waves was Peter, Susan's nephew visiting from Auckland. We then went through the KFC drive-thru they ordered some food for lunch insisting on getting me something Susan ordered a snack burger for me. We chatted and ate our KFC snacks as we made our way back to Taradale. After unloading my bike Peter told me to put some ice on my knee and take it easy. I waved as they drove off.
My body was a little ache that night so we decided to take the car up to Napier to the Ocean Spa, were the life guards wear snow jackets and beanies. We soaked in the warm baths and sweat in the sauna for a few hours. My body was feeling better. We started off to home when a cop flagged us down and told us to pull over. Our lights were not on. I got out and sure enough the front lights were burnt out. He asked us if there was someone we could call and have pick us up but we did not have anyones number on us nor could we remember the road that Glenn's teaching partner lived on. So the cop said well I guess I will have to take you home because he did not want us driving with out lights. We got in the cop car and he drove us approximately nine miles to our flat.
That is my story of the purple eared lady and why we do not have a car today.
Smiles