south island part 2 and other random facts

A few fun facts:

"Fringes" are the Kiwi word for bangs (like hair-bangs).
NZ doesn't have a Constitution.
"People-mover" is a van.
NZ was the first country to give women the right to vote.
"Status shorts" (my A&M girls, and guys, will know...) have negative points here in NZ. I am always asked if I am going to work out or have just gone to work out. Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes I just smile and say no (and laugh in my head). People actually really dress up for class here. Sad day....my wardrobe is on its 17th rotation.
The library has a pet cat. You heard me right. He seriously walks all over, curls up to sleep in the chairs, and rubs all up on you. On other days we have birds flying around. I'd rather have the cat instead of "ducking and covering" all of the time.

Sorry my posts are becoming more and more less frequent. My technological outlets are one by one shutting down. Skype stopped working since my internet service switched proxy servers, my computer charger broke, so I borrowed a "charge" each day from Emma, and then my computer totally crashed about a week and a half ago. Lovely right? Oh, and I don't really use a cell phone or TV here, so you might say I'm technologically challenged. And I kinda like it.

Emma and I spent this last weekend visiting the top part of the South Island we didn't get to see over our 2 week break. We primarily went to sea kayak on arguably one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Kaiteriteri (Maori word for "Eat quick, eat quick" because of an old sea monster legend) in Abel Tasman National Park. We left super early Saturday morning and walked down to the harbor where we were going to catch the ferry. By the way, this "ferry" is close to the size of the Titanic (if I knew exactly what that was). Point it, it was HUGE. It is a 3 hour ride to Picton, a city on the South Island. It turned out to be a beautiful morning, and Emma and I spent the whole time talking with these two little kids and their dad. They were such a joy and it just reminded me of how much I miss interacting with kids on a daily basis. Actually the conversation got started with I saw Patrea, the little girl, pull out a Judy Moody book (3rd grade level) which I had casually read before I left. Give me a break, I'm going to be teaching these kids one day.... Anyways, like I said, we got along really really well, and are going to have an ice cream playdate soon!

So Emma and I made it to Picton, picked up our rental car, ate some DELICIOUS southwest tomato and bean soup (most delicious soup ever) at this little bistro, and drove about an hour and a half to Nelson where we were going to stay the night. Seriously, there is nothing like driving in NZ. It is really the only way to see the most wonderful things. If you fly everywhere, you miss them! I love roadtrips here. Back to the story. Well we got to Nelson, found our hostel, and set out to explore the small city and get something to eat. Just like the other small cities we have come across here, there really isn't anything open past 6. So we got some award-winng gelato (hello, it was award-winning...we HAD to have some!), and had a salad at a brewery for dinner. We headed back to the hostel since it was practically becoming a ghost town and resorted to playing cards and building card houses for Emma's travelling gnome, Fredrick.

We woke up early Sunday morning and started our hour drive to Abel Tasman Park for our sea kayaking experience. Every beach we go to in NZ is different - the sand, the shells, the color of the water. It is absolutely incredible. I immediately started filling my pockets with "treasures", and we spent the morning oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the beauty of NZ and relief when we found our misplaced keys (phhewwww). Moving on, we met our instructor, Sjores, and another girl and guy who were training to become kayak instructors. Basically it was Team USA (quack, quack...) vs. Team Australia. If I must say so myself, and this is totally being humble, Team USA kicked butt. We got geared up, "spray skirt" and all so that we would be legit kayakers, and listened to some basic instruction about our journey. Since it was such a small and competent group, we got to go into little inlets and caves which normally aren't part of the tour. The trip was about 3 hours (arms=pain), and we got to paddle out to a geological phenemenon, Split Apple Rock. It is basically a huge boulder split perfectly down the middle into two pieces. Quite amazing. Anyways, we were told the traditional Maori stories of how the rock was split, all of which included a huge sea monster, and the geological one as well. (I won't bore you...) I have some great pictures, but due to the computer crash, they won't be able to be put up for the next month when I am home.

We finished the hiking trip semi-dry and totally happy! It was lots and lots of fun. We made the drive back to Picton, stopped by an unattended roadside stand to buy a huge bag for apples for $5 (amazing), and boarded the ferry unaware that this would be the WORST boat ride of our lives. The ferry left at 7 from Picton and we got caught in this terrible storm on our way to Wellington. I have never been seasick before, but it wasn't more than an hour into the journey that Emma and I both got the same pale look on our faces and wished we wouldn't have eaten anything the entire day. We stopped playing cards, put everything away, and assumed the position sprawling ourselves on the cushioned booths of the cafe. There were a few "close calls", and we took turns laying on each other for support. Worst part is is that the boat was 1 1/2 hours late because of the horrible weather. Yeah. So we were on the boat for 1 1/2 hours longer than necessary, completely seasick with throbbing headaches out of our minds. We finally made it back, hailed a taxi, and crashed in the dorms.

Wonderful weekend! Oh, and just 6 days of class left....wierd!