Poo pots and crampons

So I completely forgot to mention that I went to fish and chips for the first time at Lyttleton! It was fried... pretty nasty but great at the same time.

So that's that.

I went to the Arts Centre Historical Museum in Christchurch. So New Zealand has the only alpine parrot (the Kea; mean little mothers, I saw a bunch up at Temple Basin. They're known to take out the rubber seal around the windows of cars and go through your stuff. I saw one go into someones pack, find the food, take it out, and devour it. It also has the really awkward call that kind of sounds like the dilophosaurio from Jurassic Park (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22ztVTfOeSA). Still, an alpine parrot=freaking cool.) New Zealand also has the only flightless parrot (the Kakapo) along with a ton of other flightless birds. The only ones left, though, are the ones the Maori, western Europeans, and Opossums didn't eat.

Another update for this past week, I got a bike! It's awesome, road bike, rack already attached. Second hand along with a helmet, LED light, and a lock for $150 NZ (which is like $110 US). Sick! Now I can actually get around.
Well, that's actually up to debate. The people here are super nice (scary nice) but it seems that it all disappears as soon as they sit behind the wheel. Pedestrians are simple a nuisance to be scared off by hitting the gas when they attempt to pass. Bikers are also hardly appreciated. We aren't exactly allowed to switch lanes, so a right turn (since everyone drives on the left side) is a real problem. Have to somehow cross two lines of traffic on a green light. On the last right turn I had to make coming back from the bikeshop, I decided I would cross the street when no cars were around and ride on the wrong side of traffic for just a bit. I saw a bus coming at me, so I sped up, facing him head on. The tension built, I was staring down the driver, speeding on my bike, while the bus was coming closer and closer to the curb. I lost. He could have slowed a millisecond and I would've scooched by! Stupid New Zealand drivers.
One more culture shock: it's not typical to hold doors for people here. I keep catching myself doing it and people kind of look at me strange. They also don't do the hurry up before the person who's holding the door stops holding it, which makes it even more awkward.

On Wednesday, after the Tramping Club meeting, some of us made the bad decision to go to town. There's a small cobblestone street called Sol Square just packed with the coolest bars. The one we went to had couches outside of it with a few fires going; inside it was low-lighting, funny saying, awesome bartenders, and mulled wine. SO that was pretty cool. Shouldn't I be doing schoolwork?
Thursday night Sophie started on my dreads... yeah.
It was also a bit of a party at Sophie's place. Ivana brought her Slovakian plum vodka (Slivovica). At the Foundry (the campus bar) they had CUBA Jib. This would definitely not happen in Binghamton. They built a snow ramp and held a boarding/skiing jumping competition. We didn't exactly get in... people were waiting outside the bar for hours, so we stood there for 20 min and left.
Over the weekend, I went to Snowcraft with the Tramping Club. It was the first time I've walked with a pack that heavy since I was 13, so it was a bit... embarrassing. Our instructor was a guy named Faulka (said Volka) from Germany who casually told us that his mate and him were planning a run... from the east coast of New Zealand to the west. We walked past the cabins at Temple Basin to a river over a peak where we set up camp. I brought my amazing $25 (NZ) tent. Pretty sure we were the butt of half the jokes told that night. Whatever, at least it's a shelter. And as soon as the sun sets, you want a shelter. The temperature drops from 70F to 10F. I was in my sleeping bag by 4:30pm and only got out of it around 7:30 the next morning.
The actual instruction consisted of how to use an ice ax, crampons, and how to self arrest. Self arresting was a blast. You basically slide down the snowy mountain like a penguin and stop yourself with the ice ax when you feel like your going too fast. We were going on our butts, stomachs, on our backs head first. Sooo much fun.
The van ride back had the best stopover ever: a huge ice cream scoop and hot chocolate became my dinner. We got back pretty late, but I still met up with Mark. He took me up to Port Hills to look down at Christchurch all lit up at night. It was beautiful and the best end to a wonderful weekend.
Sophie finished my dreads yesterday... yeah.