Sad.Sigh Down Under - Parts 6,7 and 8
Hi Dudes. Sorry for my absence. I was in the mountains/on a lake w/o access to the internets, which was probably the most Sad Sigh thing of all. (Or rather, the fact that I was constantly bemoaning the lack of internet access instead of enjoying the breathtaking scenery was probably a bit more Sad Sigh.)
This is only half of what I need to post, but we’re in Queenstown for another 2 days, so I should be able to catch up soon. (Also Sad.)11.20.08 - Bondi
Went for a run on the beach this morning. While I pat myself on the back heartily for this, I should remind myself to never attempt to exercise whilst on vacation in the future. Not only is it very, VERY bad form, but since I decided that the beach would be the best place to do this, to strained condition of my old man quads have made me want to die.
Other than that, the day was great! Went tanning on the hostel’s amazing roof deck, chatted with a very pretty Canadian girl, a stunning very tall Spaniard, and Steve, the British spike-ear. All three were lovely, and very good looking, so naturally, I felt very lovely and good looking by association. (Take THAT Abe. I’ll be as happy as I want on vacation, knowing full well that it will come back to bite me in the ass very soon.)
The Sad Sigh portion of this day was that I’ve really started to learn that these wrong-side-road drivers suck asshole. I’m so confused as to which direction to look when I cross the street, that I end up rapidly turning my head both ways like a crazy bunny. This causes me to a) get dizzy and b) not actually register when there are cars coming down the road, so I almost get run over anyway.
11.21.08 - Christchurch
Woke up at the ass end of dawn (5am) to catch a shuttle to the airport. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and all I wanted to do was die die die. Got to the Sydney airport, (which is like an expanded Starbucks/Wagamama combo), and flew to Christchurch in New Zealand. As we were flying across the South Island towards XChurch, and look down at NZ from the plane, it actually looks like you’re watching the LOTR dvd’s. This is not the first time I will make a splendid nerd reference like that.
In Christchurch, at our hotel, we met up with HuiWon, (who we also went to Peru with, and is joining us for the NZ leg of the trip). She immidately said something blunt, like, ‘your head looks funny’ or ‘oh, you’re still Asian, aren’t you?’ Because she is a bitch. (Her words, not mine!)
Met our tour group, composed of 10,546 girls, and, like 4 dudes. (This isn’t exactly true, but you know…)
Our tour leader, Nathan, likes to be referred to as ‘Pumbaa’, (yes, THAT Pumbaa), and didn’t really tell us altogether too much information about the trip, much to HuiWon and my chagrin. Because I’m a workaholic, (don’t think that I haven’t also been checking my word e-mail every day and filing non-urgent e-mails, responding to some, and behaving like General Type A all throughout the trip), my first reaction was, ‘I could have planned this trip opener much better.’ Because that’s how I judge people and tours. Sigh. I’m boring, you guys.
Had dinner at XChurch’s ONE trendy restaurant, (actually, they have, like 5, but they’re all right next to each other on what XChurchians refer to as ‘The Strip’. It was no Strip like we know them in the States), got pleasantly tipsy, and headed to bed.
11.22.08 - XChurch, Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, Lake Ohau
Slept pretty strangely in XChurch. First off, sharing the room with 2 complete strangers, one of whom was amazingly hyperactive, and one of whom was an accountant from Sydney. Secondly, the bed that I was in was a bit like a giant block of foam, about 6′ x 4′ x 3′. I kept sinking, and dipping to the side, and it made me very anxious about never being able to get back up again. Not a completely unfounded fear. Thirdly, throughout the night, we had, not one, but TWO random girls, (who’d been given the wrong keys), walk into our room, turn on the lights, and see three dudes sleeping in what they thought were their beds. We had to yell at them, ‘WRONG ROOM’ and then toss fitfully and hope to go back to bed.
Headed out on the bus (or ‘Coach’… stupid Britishy-real-English), which had the most charming ‘new bus smell’ and proceeded to get the full schpiel from Nathan about what would be going on our trip. This immediately and irrevocably made me feel bad for being so critical of the organization’s planning skills the day before, as the schpiel was about 2 hours long, and was best done on a 3 hour bus ride instead of on the night of arrival.
Stopped off at lakes Tekapo & Pukaki, (both glacial lakes, with weird swimming-pool-blue water), before finally arriving at Lake Ohau, (the Maori names for everything are, naturally, hilarious). Lake Ohau was one of the biggest glacial lakes, and was a pretty spectacular sight. But, other than that, nothing particularly Sad to report on. (Sorry guys. You must be fuming by now.)
I was going to take this moment to go on about Antipodean slang, but I think I’ll do that in a separate post, as this is already gargantuan, and I know nobody’s read this far, anyway.
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They call them coaches here, too, Denny.
Man I’m a whiny bastard.