So it's finally starting to feel like things are coming to an end. Which is good, cause I'm about to hop on a plane to Sydney. Pretty much everyone else in my course packed up and left two days ago. It was a little strange and a little sad to say goodbye, but with new friends all around the world I guess I have even more reasons to keep traveling. I don't have much time, so how about some odds and ends from around New Zealand?
With no one around and nothing to do I was finally able to take a hike up Queenstown hill. It's a great hike with fantastic 360 degree views from the top. I've got a few pictures up if you follow the image above.
After an action packed weekend I decided it was time to kick it down a notch yesterday. A relaxing, two hour cruise on Milford Sound sounded like a a nice way wrap my trip up. However, the sound is kind of in the middle of nowhere; it's a 5 hour drive from Queenstown. I thought I was going to be clever and get a flight back from Milford Sound (saving me 4 hours), but due to some technical issues (i.e. the woman booking my trip had no idea what she was doing) I ended up getting the full 13 hour experience.
The drive out there was actually quite nice. I learned all sorts of fun facts about New Zealand, too. For example, there are about 4 million people and 45 million sheep (or as our driver said, "over 20 sheep for every New Zealand man!"). Farming is big deal in New Zealand and the three most farmed animals are sheep, cattle, and (surprisingly) deer. We drove past a few deer farms and it was strange to see deer packed up, grazing in fields. To get the complete New Zealand experience I even tried some venison sausage for dinner. It was fresh from a neighboring farm and was extremely meaty. Probably the meatiest things I've tried. It was a little overwhelming, but worth a try.
But back to Milford Sound. Despite spending 10 hours in a bus, I think the trip was worth it. Seeing mountain peaks rise straight up out of the water, reaching several thousand feet was unreal. I took a bunch of pictures, and it's late so instead of writing about everything we did I'm just going to point you to them. When I get some free time I'll give a nice running commentary too, there's a few good stories there.
The latest local saying that has been causing me problems is "You alright?" This seems to be a common way to greet friends, so it's something I didn't notice much at first. But now when ever I see anyone it's always, "You alright, Colin?" And it's even worse when they say it as a statement, instead of a question. Several times in the last week I've walked into the common room to be greeted with, "You're alright, Colin." Invariably I skip a beat as my mind checks to make sure I'm not bleeding or missing any limbs.
Also, "tea" is the most ambiguous word in the English (UK) language. As far as I can tell, tea can mean: tea, coffee, a specific afternoon meal that goes with tea, lunch or dinner. Additionally, sometimes they say dinner when they mean lunch. It's always a surprise to what ends up on the table when someone says, "I'm just going to make some tea."
And my most random story of the trip so far: the last time I was in Phoenix, Luke, one of my most favorite cousins in the world, was showing off his most recent superhero cartoon, "The Adventure of Captain Underpants!" An interesting idea, to say the least. On the way to Milford Sound we stopped in Te Anau, the tramping capital of New Zealand (tramping is a fun word, sounds a little dirtier than backpacking). Anyway, I walked into the post office / stationary store and what do I stumble across? Captain Underpants! Complete with action figurine. Weird.
What else... Oh yes, be careful what you wish for. A good friend of mine, Guy, has been saying for weeks how he can't wait for the course to end so he can attempt some ridiculous jumps on Coronet Peak. "I'm gonna put some wrist guards on and jump until I break something!" he's boasted on more than one occasion. A mere three days after the course he made good on his promise, shattering his wrist on the largest kicker on Coronet Peak (while wearing wrist guards, even). Seems like a unique souvenir, I guess. Except that he was supposed to spend the next 6 months in northern New Zealand, interning on a farm. It's going to be hard to do much farm work with one good arm, so he's been forced to reexamine his plans. Hopefully he can join the farm after recovering, but he may be forced to abandon his plans altogether and head back home a year earlier than originally planned.
And that's pretty much life down here in New Zealand. As I've mentioned several times, I can't wait to find some sun. I haven't been snowboarding since Friday and my body is having a hard time justifying living in a cold, barely heated house for no apparent reason. Until then!
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