Days 12-16 of Mid-Semester Break!

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD.

KAIKOURA

Day 12 (Nelson):

After eating breakfast on a picnic next to the trampoline in the motor home park, we headed out to spend the day roaming around the city of Nelson for the day.  I walked around the city, stopping in every shop that I found interesting.  There were tons of jewelry shops so I definitely stopped in all of those.  I headed over to the Wednesday farmer’s market and met the group there.  Best purchase in Nelson: 4 apples for ONE DOLLAR at the farmer’s market.  Yes please!  And then I met the 2^nd mean person in NZ.  We went into a little shop to get gelato and naturally I sampled a few flavors before deciding.  After seeing how small the portions were that he was giving to other customers, I decided that it wasn’t really worth the money and I could just get some ice cream at another shop down the street than I had seen.  I guess I must’ve given off an expression that made him think I had changed my mind because he glared at me and said in a mean tone, “So are you really not going to get any??”  Um actually, sir, NO I’m not because you are mean and grumpy and I don’t want to give you $4 for a tablespoon of ice cream.  No, I didn’t actually say that; instead, I turned around and walked right out of the store and into the NICE café down the street to get my ice cream.  Sheesh!

That night, after showering and doing laundry, we started cooking the meal that we had planned for our last camping supper :(  Our plan was to have eggs, sausage, tomatoes and bread.  Kelsey and I were the cookers, but we didn’t exactly know how to cook the sausage, which were literally all linked together and frozen.  We ended up just ripping each one apart and it wound up looking kind of like ground beef.  Oh well!  I scrambled the eggs and we put the two together, added tomatoes, cheese, and bread and ate up!  We had also gotten a tub of ice cream to share, but luckily we didn’t eat it all that night…

the finished product! yum! 

Day 13 (Nelson-->Kaikoura-->Christchurch):

We left Nelson around 7am and ate breakfast in the van on the way to Kaikoura.  We drove right up next to the east coast and saw a seal colony that lasted for at least 3km or so.  It’s SO weird to me that in the US I would have to go to a zoo or an aquarium to see these kinds of things, but in NZ they’re just on the side of the road (but I guess that’s because the road is next to the ocean)!  Anyway, everything was going great until about 10am.  We were just riding along in good ol’ Jezze when all of a sudden there was a huge kerplunk.  In shock, but still driving, the van started to sound like a motorcycle revving up.  Megan pulled over, turned it off, and started it up again.  The noise continued and we had NO idea what was going on, but we were scared to drive any more.  I called Jucy and AA, which is basically the equivalent to AAA in the US, and about an hour later an old man (with Velcro sneakers) showed up, checked a few things out, and told us to follow him into town to the AA shop.  Let me just say… if we were to breakdown anywhere and anytime on this trip, this was absolutely ideal timing.  THANK YOU GOD.  First of all, we were pulled over on the side of the road next to horses and pastures with the mountains in the distance ahead and the ocean in the distance behind.  Also, I am SO thankful that we had cell phone service, were near a town, and this was the last day of our trip.  I LOVE the way the Lord plans things out!  Oh AND we had leftover ice cream, so you better believe that we ate that up on the side of the road while we were waiting for the AA guy to show up!  YUM!

the Jucy breakdown

After about an hour of working on Jezze while we checked out Kaikoura, we found out that we wouldn’t be able to get the van back until the next morning.  Ahhhh!  Thankfully, Jucy came through and paid for bus tickets for us to get to Christchurch that evening (and we didn’t have to worry about turning the van in or anything).  After we got all of our stuff out of the van and repacked our bags in the mechanic garage, we walked about 15 minutes into town to the bus stop.  We got some interesting looks as we were walking with ALL of our luggage.  We waited at a bus stop that was RIGHT next to the ocean with a rock shore.  I was SO tired by this point, but NO WAY was I going to sleep on the bus ride.  I practically got a crick in my next from looking out the window at the scenery the whole time! 

I had been in touch with my long lost cousin, Dani, who we were staying with for our 2 days in Christchurch and she was waiting for us at where the bus let us off.  It was about 6:30pm, dark, and rainy when we got off the bus.  I had no idea what Dani looked like, and I admit that I looked at this girl who got out of a car parked behind the bus and gave her a hopeful hey-are-you-the-person-I’m-meeting-here look.  Unfortunately she went to hug a girl behind me. Shucks.  Eventually I found Dani, we piled our things in her car, and she took us to her house!  We met Dani’s 5 roommates, who were hilarious and VERY entertaining, set up some mattresses in the “lounge”, hung out for a bit, then crashed!

the view during the drive to Kaikoura!

Day 14 (Christchurch):

Our plan for today was to go to a little town on the bay outside of ChCh called Akaroa.  Dani generously let us borrow her car (the bus tickets were $50! Dang!).  She warned us that the transmission wasn’t in the best condition (whatever that means…), but we put some gas in it and were on our way!  Sidenote: this was the smallest, oldest (1985), and squeakiest car I have ever driven.  Luckily we got to Akaroa without any problems!  We spent the day walking around the bay area, taking in all the beautifulness, checking out the cute little shops and art galleries, and getting a CHEAP double scoop ice cream (from a NICE guy).  We decided to head back to ChCh around 3ish and we were golden until about 5 minutes in when the accelerator gave out on me.  I pulled over and when I came to a stop, the car shut off.  In my experience with breaking down cars, I’ve never been the driver, always the passenger, so this was a new and WEIRD feeling.  Ahhhh!  I called Dani and told her what was going on to see if there were any tricks or anything that she ever used, but she didn’t really have much advice.  All I could picture was us piling into a tow truck.  After a few minutes, I started it again.  Nothing.  Again.  Nothing. The third time I started it and immediately put it in drive and hit the accelerator.  YES!  Off we went, slooooowly. I didn’t push it to go fast, but it was going!  Luckily, we made it over the winding roads of the mountain (I should’ve counted how many cars passed us ha!) and on our way back into the city.  As son as we hit the first red light, I stopped and the car turned off.  Ahhhh!  I waited until it turned green, turned the key, put it in drive, and accelerated FAST.  This got REALLY stressful REALLY fast, so I called Dani.  Her and her mom came to pick us up from a parking lot I had drifted into.  Basically, it was just a matter of time until this happened.  PHEW!!! 2 breakdowns in 24 hours, dang!

AKAROA

waiting for Dani and her mom in the broken down car :(

Later that afternoon, Dani showed us around the University of Canterbury campus, which was actually really weird for me.  I don’t think I have explained this on here yet, but up until about a week before my departure date, I was all set up to go to the University of Canterbury in Christchurch.  There was an earthquake (smaller than the Sept 2011 and the Feb 2 ones) in June and that’s when my parents pulled the plug and insisted that I switch.  I didn’t resist, but worked with a high school teacher of mine that conveniently now works for Australearn to switch EVERYTHING.  I definitely did NOT understand the affect that the Feb 22^nd earthquake had on the city of ChCh.  I’ll expand a little more in the next day’s slot, but just being in that city made me appreciate SO much God’s plan for me not going to Univ. of Canterbury in Christchurch and His plan of putting the fear of me being in that city in my Mom and Dad’s heads to initiate the switch. 

Anyways, we went up to a SUPER GOOD and CHEAP fish’n’chips shop near Dani’s house for dinner.  Then we went back for a “chocolate explosion jam donut”… translation = a cinnamon sugar donut filled with jam with a chocolate bar melted in te middle. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Day 15 (Christchurch-->Auckland):

In the morning, Louise, one of Dani’s roommates, dropped us off at Hagley Park and the botanical gardens and we walked through them to the city.  It was SO sad to see the city of Christchurch.  There were fences up around most all of the building and you couldn’t even get into the city center.  We walked past some strips where shops and businesses were and it literally looked like the scene of a movie.  Most of the business owners have not been able to get back into their shops because it’s still not safe, so NOTHING had been touched since the Feb 22^nd earthquake.  We passed a coffee shop where all the chairs had fallen over on the ground, mugs and plates were broken on the ground, the dishwasher was full and open, silverware and napkins were scattered throughout the whole place, and a Feb 22^nd newspaper was on the ground.  Next to that coffee shop was an insurance company where the computer screens were sideways on the desks, papers were on the floor, and phones were off the hook.  It was so unreal to see.  There were HUGE cracks and crevices in the sidewalks and on the buildings and bumps everywhere in the roads.  It seemed that nothing in the city center was open.  I was SO naïve to think that this city would be totally back to normal and up and running.  Although Christchurch is probably an amazing city and would have given me a great experience in New Zealand, I am, again, SO thankful that I am not living there.  Sidenote: apparently there was an earthquake the night before.  The others felt it, but said that I sat up in my sleeping bag, looked around, and then laid back down.  I don’t remember one single second of that. I learned that there have been at least 1000 aftershocks since Feb.  It would be SO scary to live with the fear that another earthquake could happen any moment of any day.  THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR MAKING ME SWITCH CITIES!!!!

a coffee shop 

Anyways, Dani and her brother picked us up and took us to two cities, Lyttelton and Sumner (a cute little beach town), right outside of ChCh.  Dani was SO sweet to spend her day driving and showing us around and I am so glad that I was provided this semi-cousin connection!! 

Dani and I

We ended up missing the bus to the airport, but Louise just happen to drive by and see us waiting, so she took us to the airport (where I found soft serve ice cream for 60 CENTS! CENTS. Naturally, I got two). We boarded our plane and were back in Auckland around 8:30!  Paul, one the Australearn leaders, picked us up at the airport and tok us back to his house for the night.  His sweet wife made the most delicious dessert for us, we chatted for a bit, and then headed to bed!  After 2 weeks away, it sure felt good to be back in the North Island!

outside the airport in ChCh

Day 16 (Auckland-->Hamilton):

New Zealand’s Father’s Day was today (which at first put a lump in my throat because I thought it was the US’s too), so we celebrated Paul being a Dad to his adorable 15 month old daughter!  His wife prepared a delicious homemade breakfast: English muffins, poached eggs, and bacon (ham). Y-U-M!  Paul took us into town and drove us around a bit and then dropped us off at the bus stop where we caught the NakedBus back to Hamilton.  This trip was absolutely incredible and definitely the best trip (within the best experience) of my life so far, but I don’t think I have ever been so excited to see my little, cozy, single room in Hamilton!  I immediately showered, put laundry in, ate CHICKEN for dinner in the dining hall and drank hot chocolate!!!

DONE!