Hard and Fast

Monday, January 21
We packed up camp in Picton and headed for Kaikoura. We hiked the Queen Charlotte Trail and went to the beach. I held a funny crab. On our way to Kaikoura we stopped at a black sand beach. I saved a rock. Then I broke my sandal. The waves were massive and crashed wildly on the dark rocks. I saw sea lions on the rocks. Wild sea lions.

In Kaikoura we stayed about a 5 minute walk from the beach. We met some locals. They don't have one-dollar bills here but rather $1 coins and $2 coins. They all think it's so weird we have $1 notes. I showed them my American money and one boy wanted my dollar notes and I told him I needed it. He offered to pay me $1.50 for it. Being as we get NZ dollar for ever eighty-three cents I figured it was slightly in my favor so I gave him a useless $1 and got a very valuable $1.50 back. Those coins will come in handy for laundry or a toilet fee.

Tuesday, January 22
We woke up and packed up the tent. (What else is new?) and had wheat bix (a cereal) for breakfast and left for Kaikoura and went to Christchurch. This place is kind of like Boston in the sense that it is a good-sized city and it has the settled-in-the 1800's feel to it. We saw the Botanical gardens. They don't have maple trees here but they have massive pine-ish trees with branches sprouting out just inches from the bottom.

We got to stay in a motel for the 2 nights we were in Christchurch. That's lucky for us because those two nights it rained. That's the first we've seen of rain in New Zealand. They're having a drought. We stayed in a motel (Holiday Park) and it rained a bit so we were grateful not to be tramping around. Christchurch is definitely a happening town. They have a big pillow bubble on the campground. A girl bounced off of that and onto the sand and got the wind knocked out of her. Another dislocated her thumb. One girl was on the slide, fell off and smacked her face on the ground. She chipped her tooth and she was going to get it filled but it cracked all the way up so they pulled it out instead. Poor lass is missing a front tooth.

One of the drivers parked in a bus only zone and he got towed. So he had to hitch-hike to the towing company to get the car back and he somehow managed to talk himself out of 50% of the fee. Another driver got pulled over by a cop standing in the street and fined for not having his seat belt on.

So much drama in so little time!

Wednesday, January 23
Christchurch is a bigger city and they were having the World Busker Festival while we were there so there were lots of street performers. We saw the juggler who plays songs on the piano with his balls and walked the town at night. It kind of has a NYC feel to it except most of the shops close at 5. Most of New Zealand closes at 5. Very few stores are open 24 hours.

We went up to the top of the cathedral. Everyone is talking about Sir Edmund Hillary's funeral (he climbed Mt Everest and was the first to do so). I had a meat pie. They are pretty tasty.

I got home and circled my bug bites. I have 49 of them. I hate sand flies. They're worse than mosquitoes because you don't feel mosquitoes when they suck your blood. Sand flies bite so you feel their dirty teeth cut your flesh and then it itches like mad.

Thursday, January 24
We left Christchurch and went to Greymouth. This means we went to the West coast of New Zealand. We drove down really steep curves with 16% grade. (The steepest I've seen in the states is 8%). We hiked Devil's Punchbowl and saw the waterfalls. There are lots of waterfalls in New Zealand. And moss.

Greymouth is one of my favorites (Waitomo, Rotorua, and Picton coming in close seconds) We stayed on the beach. Well, not really. We stayed at the Holiday Park and the only thing separating us from the ocean was a row of trees. We just took the path and 10 steps later I was on the rocky beach watching the sun set on the Tasmanian Sea. We all thought it was the perfect setting for those romantic pictures so we all borrowed Ben and tried to take romantic pictures. It was hysterical.

Sunsets in New Zealand are different. The sky is still light even though the sun is not in sight.
At home the east side of the sky is a few shades darker than the west where the sun is slowly hiding behind the mountains. Not here. The sky is the same sky-blue color until it all turns dark. This lattitude is very weird. It only takes 15 minutes in the sun to burn. Wear sunscreen!

Friday, January 25
Greymouth to Cromwell. It was a lovely 8 hour drive. My bum is sore and I had more junkfood in those 8 hours than I've had in a long time. Sensation cookies...I mean biscuits...are delightful. Clunkers are like Whoppers. Crunchies are amazing and I'm sure I'm bring heaps of them home. Don't waste your money on gummies. Chase rigged up his laptop to watch movies and we had the car adapter so the sound went to the entire van. We watched "Stranger than Fiction" and "The Guardian." We also made a couple stops at glaciers.

GLACIERS ARE HUGE! The glaciers are the color of blue cotton candy. They make you feel small as a human being. Just when you think you're on top of the world the world reminds you you're just a pipsqueak. I can say that I've drunken glacier water from a waterfall and been at the beach all within two days. Cromwell looks a lot like Utah.

Saturday, January 26
Cromwell to Invercargill. It's only a 3 hour drive but it seemed to drag on forever. We stopped at Katarua Bridge and for you bungee jumping enthusiasts who already know, this is the birthplace of the thrill sport. It doesn't look that bad. I stood on the bridge and looked down and 100 feet really doesn't seem all that scary anymore.

We picked up a German hitchhiker named Judith. She's country-hopping for 6 months. Saturday was a weird day because we were all meeting our families. Everyone was nervous. It felt like I was being adopted. Kind of because I was being adopted. We FINALLY got to Invercargill and got a brief orientation. The bottom of the South Island was founded by Irish and Scottish so the accent is very different than the other parts of NZ. They say things like "wee" a lot. The first man showed up wearing a shirt that said "Save water. Drink Beer". That is Janell's and Cathy's pop. They told us today at church that their pop (named Jed) went to the pub last night and he was talking with his mates and he signed up Cathy and Janell for some touch rugby. (He knew Janell was on the women's rugby team)

I met my family. I have Neville and Joyce. I definitely live with old people. I'm just really happy to have sturdy walls that don't collapse every morning, bed sheets, and real silverware. Simple convieniences that I've been without for two weeks.

My room is purple. Purple curtains with purple bedspread. There are nicknack's and creepy dolls everywhere. The toilet is in the laundry room and the bathroom has no toilet. Mirrors are in random places and never where you expect them to be. Haeree and I got here and Joyce gave us both late birthday presents. I got a ballerina bear trinket with a garnet. Cute, huh? We had quiche and homegrown tomatoes for dinner.

I got homesick for the first time last night. The first two weeks were just like I was on vacation in Florida because everything is so American here it's like I never left the states. Not until I got settled in and realized that I'm surrounded by people who talk fast and staying in a room that isn't mine did I realize that home is a LONG ways away.

Don't worry. I have my blanky.

Neville works fork lifting tires. Joyce works in the post office. We talked awhile about the different words we have for things.
Footpath=sidewalk
Have a lion=sleep in
Jandals=flip flops
Sausages=hotdogs
Hotdog=corndog
Chips=French fries
Crisps=chips
Candyfloss=cotton candy
Lollies=candy

Mostly they accent funny parts of words like a garage is a Gar-adge. They laugh at the way we say Addidas. They say toe-matto.

Their grandkids came for a bit. Georgina is 9, Harrison is 11, and Jonathan is 13. I wrote in my profile that I play the guitar so Joyce made sure to have Jonathan bring his. It's electric. And left handed. Everything is backwards. I had a handstand contest with Georgina and we played a little Crickett. Harrison tired to explain rugby to us.

THINGS I NEED TO SHOW THESE POOR DEPRIVED CHILDREN:
rootbeer floats
7 layer chip dip
fry sauce
funeral potatos
symphony bars
Sweedish fish (NO Sweedish fish??!!! What's wrong with the world?!)

Sunday, January 27
Today (Sunday) Haeree and I went to church with the other 34 of us. We easily doubled if not tripled the branch. The Relief Society sisters tried to teach us to read Maori. The e makes the sound like ay. Kind of like the first part of egg. We all told each other about our families. Stefanie said that her lady keeps asking every hour if they would like some hot Milo (like Ovaltine) or some hot tea (herbal because they all got the "What Mormons don't Eat" pep talk). She was in bed and the lady walks in, "Milo?". Jackie keeps saying yes when her family offers her something to drink and so she has to use the toilet all the time. Most of the home stays are older ladies. Some are older couples and seldom have children at home.

After church we went to the farm for Kylie's birthday. (She's a grand daughter of Neville and Joyce) I swam in the creek and did cannon balls off the side. Haeree and I had to change into our swim togs behind some trees. We fed moldy bread to the sheep and tried mighty hard to sit on one. I got my legs straddled on one for wee bit. (I'll already picking up the accent! But it's more Scottish than the soft New Zealand.) We played spring ball. It's like teatherball but with a spring instead of a straight pole and a tennis ball instead of a teatherball.

We had trifle and pudding and jelly (jello) and wonderful sausages (hotdogs) and hamburgers. I'm sure I had enough chocolate to last a long time, and showed everyone American money. They told us that they never sing the national anthem at rugby games or have bands or anything. Haeree and I sang our school fight songs for them and the Star Spangled Banner. They don't even take their hat off for the flag here. Gah! I really want to listen to a big brass band here. Because the weather is so warm it feels like it's summer. And summer means Independance Day and bands. It's really hard to realize that it's still January and we just finished Christmas. Groundhog day is in a week.

Summer for me is going to last a good 7 months. I'm already getting a better tan than what I had.

It's kind of weird to be settled. I have been living out of a suitcase for 2 weeks but it feels SO much longer than that. Days here just seem to stretch on forever. Despite driving on the right side of the road there are a few minor but drastic differences between here and the states. For starters there are almost always two faucets in sinks. One spits out hot water and the other cold. There is no option to turn both knobs and make warm water.

The toilet tank is set above the seat rather than right behind it. Light switches are more like the lock and unlock buttons in the car. The dial tone on the phone sounds weird so I never know if the phone is working or giving me the busy signal. Grocery stores are interesting. There is one entrance and it forces you to walk through the bakery and the fruit. Eggs are not refrigerated here. Avocados are pretty cheap. The cheddar cheese is INCREDIBLE because they don't color it orange. They keep it white.

Despite what Mark said, Mexican food is not that hard to find. We've had tortillas and chips every day. Simple American mustard is, however, a real find because everything here is honey mustard. I don't think New Zealanders know what a dill pickle is. Most roads are really curvy. There are more sheep here than people. Libraries are pathetically small. Drinking fountains do not exist. (I have found only 2 in the past 14 days).

As for not having a camera, Becky in our group is going to make us all DVDs with all the pictures and everyone has been downloading their pictures on her laptop so I get pictures with other people and it's not bad and I know I'm going to get the pictures later. Life without a camera, cell phone, or watch has been liberating. I actually rather like experiencing life hard and fast and without worrying about recording it. I like slurping up life like I devour orange juice through a straw; fighting for the last droplet.