Feb. 8 -- Whakatane, Bay of Plenty

Sunday, Feb. 8
Whakatane, Bay of Plenty

Last week was amazing. I met two incredible dudes: Gaspar (34) from Malaga, Spain, and Guillermo (45), a pediatrician from Buenos Aires.

Gaspar left Spain in 2002 on a 36-foot sailboat, sailing across the Atlantic, around Tierra Del Fuego, and throughout the Southern Pacific. He spent the last two years in French Polynesia. He is incredibly charismatic, and also small and elfish, which makes it easy to forget that he is a world-class sailor. Gaspar is actually a reluctant celebrity in sailing circles; he eschews the media, but every sailor we ran into in the Gisborne Harbor worshipped him.

(Incidentally, if you read Surfer Mag, the columnist named Liz/Beth is his former girlfriend...]

And then there's Guillermo, who met Gaspar on Easter Island 2 years ago, and sailed to Tahiti with him. He's this big, affable, Snoopy-like character. Gaspar has the fire of a diminutive Don Quijote; Guillermo is like a big, slow-moving lizard. You couldn't find two more opposite characters, and that is the genius of this duo.

I met my amigos at the internet cafe, and offered to drive them to the surf breaks (~10-15 km). I ended up crashing on the boat several nights, in part b/c it was fun, but also b/c there was a refrigerator on the boat for salad fixings (a *major* luxury when you've been camping for several months).

Guillermo flew back to Argentina on Wed., and Gaspar left port for Wellington on Friday. It was time for me to go, too. Driving out of Gisborne region yesterday, I was filled with the most bittersweet feelings. I had some of the best days of my life in Gizzy. I really wish that you all could have been there.