Guess where we ended up... Days 104-105

Yesterday was another day of classes, I only had two though, and one was just a quick practical. I think I went downtown yesterday as well, but I don't remember why.

Today started off wonderfully, Heather and I went to this place that we keep passing on the bus, but never go to, called the Daily Bagel. It's supposed to be a New York bagel shop... since I've not been to a NY bagel shop... I can't judge, but it was delicious. Not as good as Elaine's... but really, what is? If you haven't had Elaine's Bagels... well you haven't lived. Anyways, we wound up down town for a little bit, just walking around the open air market and heading to a few shops. We went to a place called Centennial Park, which we expected to be amazing. It wasn't bad, but I've been to better parks, let me tell you. They did have an abundance of ducks though... and apparently they all thought that I was their mother. It was slightly cute. After that park, we went back downtown and had souvlaki for lunch, then went out to Queen Elizabeth II Park (QEII). Turns out it was a "golf park". Guess where we ended up? New Brighton. I know, what a shocker. We probably walked about 30 minutes from this park to downtown New Brighton, but it was fun, so that's something. I would like to mention, at this juncture, that NZ spells the word "tires" WRONG. Okay, that was judgmental. Anyways, it is spelled tyres here. I don't understand this, but alas, I must accept it. After hanging out a bit in New Brighton (I could call it NB from now on... but I won't), we caught the bus back to school. It turned out to be the most drawn out bus ride on the face of the earth. And it seems as thought it is getting darker out much faster here, it was dark by 5:30. I did manage to get a shot of the sky right before the sun went down. I was too late for sunset though. Alrighty, I'm off to sleep. Big day of... one class... tomorrow.

Taylor's Mistake?... Days 102-103

Yesterday was by far the easiest day of classes, I woke up bright and early at 9:30 and had Margaret's class (Acoustic Phonetics) from 11 to 12, then I was done for the day. I ended up getting my Audiology report done in about 20 minutes, and then decided to go in search of a thrift store. Good times.

This morning I woke up bright and early, which is no longer shocking, now it just makes me sad. There was a time when I could sleep as late as I want. That time has left me. Anyways, Heather and I headed out around 9:30 to find Taylor's Mistake, which is supposed to be a really nice beach, and then move on to Boulder Bay, which is an hour past Taylor's Mistake, walking. Turns out Taylor's Mistake was not in our cards for today. We walked from Sumner Beach to the headland that juts out to the water. Then we began our ascent. We walked up the steep and windy path to the top of the headland, which took about 20 minutes and included some very sketchy stairs. Then we though we had won. Turns out we hadn't. We started walking down hill, continuing along Scarborough Trail. Then we started walking uphill again. This continued for a while. Finally, looking ahead and seeing no sign of Taylor's Mistake for quite a while, we decided to turn back. We walked back to the top of the first hill that we climbed and crashed on the grass for a bit, then started our descent. Even though we didn't get to Taylor's Mistake, we did have a good time and we saw some excellent views. We ended up getting fish & chips for lunch (and an excellent fried pineapple ring), as we had been talking about Sumner fish & chips since the last time we were there. From there, we went out to the beach again and climbed up to the top of the cave, which was pretty cool. After that, we just walked along Sumner Beach. We stopped a few times to take pictures and steal sea shells, but we also saw something kind of scary. As we were walking, I looked to my right and saw a shark. No joke. Granted it was a dead baby shark, but it was still a shark. We continued walking and saw another. Luckily we didn't see a third, but we were beginning to wonder if the apocalypse was coming or something equally as unnerving. We ended up walking to a small town called Redcliffs, which has some pretty sweet caves. It also has a horrible park. For some reason, still unknown, we decided that it would be a good idea to play on one of those merry go rounds that you push yourself. Bad idea, now we were just nauseous. We walked a little further down the road to where the caves were. The falling rock deterred us momentarily, but we ran into the cave in turn, to get photos. Then we escaped. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, although when we were riding the bus back, there was a young boy making strange faces at the people behind us, which was entertaining. What was not entertaining is when he decided to get his flute out and practice on the bus. I fell asleep as soon as I got back to my flat. Luckily, I woke up about two hours later, after having the most bizarre dream. I'll sum it up quickly. In the first part, Jason was lost in the woods for days and it made international news... then he came to NZ. Then I had a dream that Heather and I were on another adventure and we wound up on this escalator that throws people off at the end. Then George Bush punched her in the face. Now I'm going to sleep.

Lazy Weekend... Day 101

If you didn't catch it from the title, this weekend was very lazy. There was a lot of sitting around watching movies with friends involved. I did go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie though, since Jeff paid for most of my ticket. It wasn't bad, I wound up slightly confused, but I'm really not one of those pirate addicts either, so I didn't hold on to every last word that was said. One of the reasons that I didn't do much at all this weekend was because it is getting to be that time of the seasons when everyone is kinda sick. It's strange, really, because it's that beginning of fall sniffles and such, even though it should be going into summer. I know I've been drinking way more tea than is recommended, but it makes my throat feel nice. These last two weeks of class are going to be the easiest on record, by far. This week I have three classes canceled, so I only have one on Monday, two on Wednesday and one on Friday. Then I don't have class again until the following Wednesday, as we in NZ observe the Queen's birthday (June 4) and do not seem to do anything productive. So from now until the end of classes, I have 8 classes to go to. That seems quite exciting. Now all I really have to look forward to is my final exams. Woohoo.

I would walk 8760 miles... Day 100

So I looked up exactly how far I am from home right now... turns out that I am 8760 miles away. Interesting.

Don't stand between me and the flowers... Day 99

I had one class and one practical today, it was a painfully easy day of classes. The practical consisted of me testing 4 fellow students' ears. I was done by noon, as usual on Fridays, so I went back to my flat and hung around for a bit, then decided to cook up some food for the next few days... so I wouldn't have to do it later. Then I stepped outside to chill on my balcony... and look at this guy's horrible haircut. Anyways, Heather walked up & we talked for a minute, culminating in deciding to go to the Botanical Garden, since it would look pretty cool in the fall. Well, we got there, walked around for a bit, then before we knew it, we were lost. Not too lost, just a little disoriented. But the leaves were changing colors nicely, so it was all worth it. Oh and the rose garden was still slightly in bloom. At one point, I had to use the restroom, but when I got in there I couldn't help but take a picture of the toilet... which is equal parts disgusting and funny. But seriously, there isn't a seat, its just these two black things. I can't imagine a little kid trying to use it, they'd just fall in. I didn't do much else honestly, went back and watched some TV w/ Jeff, Jia (pronounced: Ja) & Heather, then I wound up back in my flat, very sleepy.