Peter Malcouronne meets the arrivals at Auckland Airport
They promised themselves, back in September when they were sick of studying (and sick of every minute being marred by numbers, ledgers and liabilities), that if they passed their exams - and finished their degrees - they'd head to Southeast Asia for a month. A mini-OE they called it. Two friends having one last adventure before life gets serious.
However, our story starts in 2008 when Rotorovian Jake Badrick met Hawke's Bay boy George Wilson. It was their first year at Massey University: Jake, now 22, was studying finance accounting; George, 23, was doing finance and ag science. Boarding at Colombo Hall, they became good mates, then best mates.
The buddy narrative is well-worn, but these lads could be cast in the 'Dukes of Hazzard' (George the dark-haired one, Jake the blond - albeit with a mohawk).
Both talk quickly, George especially, and finish each other's sentences. They continually interrupt, yet somehow never talk over the other.