Akaroa, like whoa... Day 112

So, today was one of the best days that I've had since coming to this hemisphere. Heather and I got on a shuttle to Akaroa, which is about 90 km away, at about 8:00am. We had a sweet as bus driver named Dallas (a woman, by the way). The ride there was a little ridiculous, since the road to Akaroa is super mountainous... and I'm quite apt to get motion sickness anymore. Yes, I'm an old person now. Either way, we got to Akaroa in one piece. It is an adorable little town on the Banks Peninsula, which was formed by a wicked dodgy volcano millions of years ago. Sweet as. Anyways, this town was originally a French settlement, traces of which you can see everywhere. We walked around the town for quite a while, ended up inside the museum, as well as a few other places, but mainly we just walked around and had a good time. On the way back, we stopped at a cheese factory. On a normal day, this would have been slightly interesting, but the aforementioned motion sickness made my stomach jump when I went inside the building. Apparently the smell of dairy doesn't agree with me, so I waited outside. We had a crazy fun time on the ride home though, we pretty much took a million photos of ourselves, because honestly, what else do you do on a boring bus ride? When we got back to the city, we stopped at a souvenir shop because I wanted to pick up something. Long story short, I didn't get charged full price, so that was exciting. We ended up at Starbucks, since Heather owed me a few dollars, so she bought me some hot cocoa. It was delicious. And can I just say that we are sneaky. There, I said it. Not going to tell the story here, but if anyone wants to know, send me an email and I'll explain. After that, we went to McDonald's, since mom won't rest until I eat a Kiwi Burger. Let me remind you all what is included: a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, cheese, tomato sauce (not ketchup), an egg and beats. Not tasty. But I got one. And I ate... some of it. But that's all that really counts, right? My taste buds will never forgive me. I could almost handle the beets, but the egg made it horrible. Oh! I forgot to mention that we had an excellent sunset today. It was before the Kiwi Burger fiasco, when we were still on the shuttle from Akaroa. Anyways, then we finally made it back to the flats and had a proper dinner. One more thing, I'm not going to have access to the internet starting tomorrow night and ending on Sunday (hopefully), since there is some sort of upgrade being done on the internet ports in all of the flats. So don't be shocked if I don't post for a few days, I'll catch up after the weekend is over.

B-E-X-L-E-Y... Days 110-111

These last two days have been pretty lazy, if I do say so myself. Yesterday I did a lot of sitting around, but I did get an essay written, so there's some productivity. Today, I finally had class after four glorious days of nothing. I had an exam at 9:00am, which wasn't too bad, then at 2:00pm I started my last Anatomy & Physiology class ever. It was as boring as always, but there was a little glimmer of hope at the end, knowing I wouldn't have to endure it anymore. After class, Heather and I went to a place called Bexley Reserve, mainly because we passed it on the way to Southshore the other day and it kind of became a ridiculous joke. Either way, we just went to take a picture or two, then we boarded the bus back to the city exchange. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to school so we could grab something to make for dinner, then we watched a movie or two. I love that you can totally get away with that in the winter and no one thinks you're lazy. Or at least most people don't think you're lazy. On a sad note, my camera is toying with my emotions. It will not decided if it is working or not and I am getting upset with it. I hope its just the quality (or lack there of) of the batteries that I am using.

Oh, and I just want to say that Gia, my surrogate mom, is amazing. Since it is nearing the end of term, and I'm probably not going to see her again, minus the final exams, she brought me a gift today. She got me the most amazing jade necklace, it's carving means "new beginnings" and she also brought me the new Maroon 5 cd. I am so grateful that I met someone like her here, not just because she bought me things, but because she took me under her wing right away. She's such a sweetheart. I will post a picture of her and I after I get it from Heather. Alright, I am off to sleep, it's a long day tomorrow and it starts early, we are going to Akaroa (90 minutes away) early in the morning on a wicked dodgy shuttle. Should be a good time.

God Save The Queen... Day 109

Today was amazing... why you might ask? Because I didn't have to do anything. Not even go to classes. All because it was the Queen's (of England) Birthday. I actually don't have class again until Wednesday morning... Sometimes a four day weekend is in order. Good stuff. I really didn't get anything accomplished today, besides rearranging my music collection, since I downloaded a little bit this weekend. Other than that, Heather and I just pretty much hung out all day, it was good times.

Sumner via Southshore?... Day 108

Well... this morning was going to start a lot differently, but it turns out that no one was playing rugby, so it went a little bit like this. I wake up too early, send an instant message to Heather after I've taken some time to wake up, so now I have to actually get up, since I'm making someone else wait. We walked from here to Riccarton Bush, which is a place that looks quite a bit like Jurassic Park. We walked around there for a while and took silly photos. Then we continued our walk up to Riccarton Road, where we grabbed some Starbuck's for brekkie (read: breakfast) and caught a bus towards Hagley Park to see if anyone was playing rugby that we could watch. Turns out that they weren't, so we continued on the bus that we were on all the way to Southshore, which is a little further south than New Brighton, but we could still see the pier. We walked all the way down the shore until we saw some vaguely familiar markers. First was the headland of Sumner, closely followed by the beach cave and huge rocks. We continued on, realizing first, that we were very near Sumner and second, that we were on the strip of land that only a few days previous, I said that I wanted to find, because it just looked cool. After taking numerous ridiculous photos and all the while, laughing like it was going out of style, we ended up at the point of the strip of land. Sadly, even at low tide, you cannot walk from Southshore to Sumner. We wanted to though. We walked around the point and eventually found our way back to the road that seemed to be nestled nicely inland. After seeing Sumner, we knew what was had to do. Minutes later, we were on a bus, our destination? Red Snapper Fish & Chips in Sumner. They have the best fish and chips, but what really sets them apart is a certain other fried delicacy. Fried pineapple rings. It sounds so simple and yet is so wonderful. We finished up our dinner, then found a bus to bring us back to school. After driving along Ferry Rd. for a bit, we realized that we had to get off the bus, as the sun was setting and it looked amazing. We did end up catching the next bus back to school, but not before getting some wicked good photos. We got back to school and hung out for a while, watching stupid television, then watching slightly better television. It was good times.

Mt. Vernon? Negative... Days 106-107

Well... yesterday wasn't all that exciting, so I'm not going to bother describing every detail. Went to class, went downtown, then watched some telly. The only redeeming part of the day was the sunset, which was extraordinary. Again, my photo does no justice.

Today was a little more lively. First, I woke up at the crack of 7:30... which was unpleasant. So I called my mummy and talked to her for a bit. Eventually I poured myself out of bed and took a shower so I could go on a mini adventure. Much like our last one, this one didn't pan out. We went to a place called Mt. Vernon, which was supposed to be really cool. It turned out to be a good photo opportunity of the city, but that is about it. We ended up in Hornby for a bit, then we went back to Ilam to make a fruit salad, as Gia was having a party. Not going to lie here, the fruit salad may be the best fruit salad ever made. The party was a pretty good time, I ended up talking politics with someone from the communication disorders class's mum. It was all good though. I also got to talk to Gia's husband, who recommended a book called State of Denial. It sounds interesting, it's about our government. After the party we went back to Heather's flat and watched Shrek with Jeff & Jia. Good times.