Nigretta (not Niagra!) Falls.
Not that I made much constructive use of this extra time! I spent most of the next few hours online - hey if you give me unlimited net access, I will play around LOL!! I did clear up a few of my e-mail accounts and chatted online to a couple of netpals. Mainly though what I did was finish writing and typing up my travel diary thus far. This took somewhat longer than I had imagined - I was still typing it at lunchtime when James came back for lunch!
Had an egg sandwich. This actually took more effort than it sounded, having to run around and find stuff in the kitchen cupboards (and of course different people put different things in different places, or not have some things at all!), and then decide what to eat.
After he left for work again, I was all alone in the house for a couple more hours. Flicked around the TV channels to see what was on (they've got satellite), came upon just before the start of the very 80s film "Electric Dreams". Felt I just had to watch it! Guess I always meant to. Was all right, a bit weird, and yes sometimes I lose it with computers as well!
I've always thought odd things about the nature of friendship contained within penpalling/netpalling. It is true that no matter how far away someone is, you can be with them in an instant, or at least feel so, with words on paper, or a screen. Obviously it's even more true online as the person you're talking to can actually talk straight back. But of course familiarity breeds feelings, which are not necessarily rational, especially if they're about someone you've never met. Now of course while sometimes upon meeting, events beyond your wildest dreams can occur (as with me and Laure; indeed initially between me and Louise, all that time ago), under normal circumstances people just live in idle fantasy worlds where reality is akin to sobriety. And no amount of dreaming can turn them into solid fact. And why would it? The universe does not work that way.
Ended up having cricket on the TV in the background (England doing surprisingly well - although it was only against Zimbabwe!0, while typing up my travel diary. Kylie came back home around 3.40pm, and suggested we go out for a sort of orientation drive around Hamilton.
It's not a big place, but it is bigger than I expected. It's laid out in a sort of grid pattern and there is a certain suggestion of small-town America in the styles of houses and the general feel of the town. We passed by her mother's house (where she was living when we first started writing), said "hello" to Fraggle - her lovely dog - before heading out into the nearby countryside.
She took me to two waterfalls; I've always liked waterfalls so that was cool. The first of them (Nigretta Falls) was in amongst the trees down a side road - you could look out from a viewpoint right over it, or go down some stairs to take a closer look. After staying at the top for a few minutes, I went down the stairs to take a few pics down below; Kylie stayed at the top.
The second waterfall (Wannon Falls) was a bit further on, and we think, on a different river, or at least a different branch of it. This was a much grander affair with a much bigger drop. They appear to have recently fenced it off though so you can no longer go down to the water's edge but instead have to stay on the cliff-top. Apparently this waterfall used to be the scene of drunken parties at the bottom; and both waterfalls were popular destinations for would-be suicidees!
Went home - James was already there - and stayed for the rest of the evening. Kylie and James are definitely more sociable than I am; more people popped by and called on the phone in one evening than I get in a whole year! I suppose it helps to have siblings who live close by, and if you live with someone too, someone you can get along well with.
Lisa was a Home and Away fan, Kylie is a Neighbours fan. So no matter where I go I can't escape the Aussie soaps!! LOL!!
Went to bed rather late again, after two glasses of wine. It was quite a pleasant evening, nice food (chicken/pasta, ice cream/choc syrup), and nice ambience. But one thing permanently in the back of my mind, worryingly the one thing I guessed but didn't want. I know the answer to what I had to find out, and it's almost certainly the wrong one.