now where was i?

so much keeps happening between my blog entries! i read the last one and i can't imagine filling in the gaps up to where i am now! So i won't really try. i'll just type thoughts out as they occur to me and you can figure out the difference.

i'm here in christchurch again, at an internet cafe with really big computer screens (not as big as yours, alec), typing away before we get in our rental car and drive to akaroa, the most french town in new zealand. apparently some guy discovered this place and then while he and his frenchy friends were on their way back to claim it officially, the maori that lived here (Remember whale rider? yeah, them) signed a treaty with the british. so frenchy arrived to see british flags waving and went "zut!" but this one town is where he first landed and apparently it's pretty kitchy and cute. so we're going there for a day trip.

the last couple of days were spent in kaikoura (whalewatching haven) and hamner springs (thermal sulfurous hot pools). in kaikoura we went swimming with seals. i was fully outfitted in wetsuit, booties, flippers, gloves, a hood, and snorkel mask. you may now crack up at the thought of how i looked. but the seals were amazing. after a while of there being none around or willing to play, a bunch ran (read: flipflopped) into the water and the babies were really friendly and playful. they swim right at you and then around in a circle until you're facing eachother again. their eyes are huge and don't have irises or pupils: it's just 100% wisdom. they look so sad though. but then something lights up when they're playing. in short, it was fantabulous. and the day was beautiful blue and crisp after a few more days of gray and rainy, so it was quite perfect really. you could see the snowcapped southern alps in the distance from the water and the rock beaches stretched around the bay... i really can't express the beauty of this place. every windy road you turn down is just breathtaking.

So we did the seal thing. fun times. and i surprised myself with how adventurous i was - not being to afraid of the animals or anything too bad. i know they're adorable, but they're also wild animals that weigh as much or more than me... but it was great, even though the hostel we stayed at was cold and mechanical and somewhat sterile in great contrast to the homey communal feel of some of the others.

We made our way to hamner springs and had massages (a birthday present from nabia and jordana) after our morning wilderness walk through the flax wetlands and before our afternoon soak in the hot pools. we were disappointed at the commercialness of the pools - they just looked like normal swimming pools, but it still felt good to steam a little bit. excellent weather, too. actually wore short sleeves most of the day.

let's see... what else... christchurch. it's an interesting town. very british influenced, with the gardens and the avon river and the names of streets ending in "cester" and all. the weather has been pretty gray for the most part while we've been here, but we did have one glorious day (still cold, but sunny) where we explored the weekend market at the arts center. there's a lot of art that happens here, and it's interesting to see the different takes people have on the same traditions. for example: the maori necklaces of jade and bone. the symbols are pretty much the same throughout, but even the same symbol looks totally different when carved by different hands. After these next two weeks exploring the smaller cities of the rest of the south island, we'll come back to the market and pick up anything we still want before we head to sydney.

speaking of sydney, we still need to buy our onward tickets from australia. we're trying to do something cost-efficient, because flying directly to southeast asia on a point-to-point from sydney is pretty darned expensive. but it's really hard to sit down and plan when new zealand is outside the window. we better do it soon though because they won't let us in to australia if we can't prove we're going to leave.

matt: i know you're sad because i haven't talked about the food we've been eating. we shop at supermarkets for meals sometimes because it's a bit cheaper. so we've had braided pumpkin bread dipped in roasted capsicum (bell pepper - i knew already because of alton...) hummos or pumpkin and kumara (native sweet potato) dip while we watched "bridget jones 2: the edge of reason" (not nearly as good as the first one, but entertaining enough). in nelson, i had a thai chicken salad that was so spicy i had to give it back - even nabia tried it and said it was unreasonably hot. in kaikoura i had some toast because my stomach was upset, but nabia and jordana shared fish and chips (the food of choice here) and corn fritters. In hamner springs we cooked a stir fry with veggies, pepper steak, and brown rice, then fried eggs with crumpets and peanut butter in the morning for my birthday (nobody makes fried eggs quite like dad though). We also had crackers with lemon and pepper tuna from a can and slices off a huge block of edam cheese on a bench in the park in the middle of town for lunch yesterday. birthday dinner last night was back here in christchurch - we splurged on a real restaurant with table service and made up for it by sharing a lot. we went to an indian place: tulsi - recommended by a co-owner of our hostel, Janneke, who has the most energy of anyone i've ever met in my life. it makes me tired, but she's hilarious. anywho, we shared spicy tandoori mushrooms, some roasted potato thing, paratha, and chicken sagwala. and then peanut m&ms while we watched finding nemo at the hostel. That's all the food I can remember right now - but i am getting hungry writing about it.

i can't think what else to write about - i know it's been so long and so much happened. i guess i'll just write some random feelings (as if this whole things isn't random already). everybody is just so darn nice here. and generous. example: last night, when we went to rent finding nemo at this awesome video rental place called alice's, it was in the computer that they had it, but it was not there on the disney wall where it belonged. so, since she was getting off work right then, tanya, the woman who was helping us, offered to DRIVE US TO ANOTHER VIDEO STORE to pick it up. she drove us to the competition so we could get the movie. she let us into her car. and drove out of her way. so nice. we've been having all kinds of experiences like that. there was wally in golden bay, and various others... it's really heartening to feel that kind of generosity. i like it. and other travellers are so friendly too. we've had political discussions in our co-ed dorm rooms with a swiss guy (Lucia, who would have given us a ride from nelson to christchurch after asking us who we voted for) and brit (Stuart - pronounced with one syllable and a rolled R), we had a long chat about values and travelling and work and capitalism with another Brit just recently (Ross, who would've given us a ride to christchurch but had to leave early because he was meeting someone at the airport), who showed us where wales was and explained which countries make up the UK, and so many others. We got rides from people from the czech republic, an expat from england, travelled with people from sweden... so many places. we've started a list of countries where we've met people from. that sentence doesn't sound right, but am i really going to start worrying about grammar now? you get it.

in any case, i'm feeling good. we need to plan our route around the south south island for the next two weeks, but we have a rental car, so we're much more in control now (even though the bus passes we bought will be going to waste). I watched nemo last night so i have all those quotes running through my head (as if i don't have them running through my head all the time), i'm still having a blast with nabia and jordana (i find myself laughing to the point of tears several times a day), i don't have to carry my pack that much because i can just put it in the car, i'm 23 years old (thanks for the happy birthdays, btw. i did indeed have a happy day), and good times await.

That's all i can think of to write at the moment, so i hope you've enjoyed my mixed up ramblings. much love to you all.

cheers,
amy


email me