Who Knew I Could Have So Much Fun in and around Christchurch?

Hello all. Yes, I realize that it has been a while. By now, it is well established that I fail at this whole blogging business. Although, to my credit, I do have a disclaimer in my profile and I warned you about the mess that was September. Last month was indeed a rough month with multiple major assignments due every week. Nevertheless, I persevered and am here again. I have been thinking as to how best to approach connecting the dots from where I abandoned you to where I currently am (we have a lot of ground to cover) and have concluded that at the moment, I'll just fill you in about the happenings of my past weekend. Don't worry, I will provide a special edition blog detailing my North Island midsemester break at a later date. For now though, let us begin with this weekend and see where that takes us, shall we?

I suppose I must begin by joyously reporting that I had my last day of classes last week and have turned in all of my internal assignments. At the moment, I am still waiting on a few grades to come back but, for the most part I have surprisingly been doing alright. Somehow I managed to pull of a 97.5% on the insane plant collection project I was working on and on top of that, I found out that the crazy plant lab professor (who reminds me of Mad-eye Moody) knew my name! Success. However, none of my internal marks really matter seeing as the final exam counts for a whopping 60% in most of my classes. So those of you Mawrters reading this, don't be too jealous, I still have finals to tackle.

What does this have to do with my weekend? Well, in light of my lack of assignments, last Wednesday I began contemplating a last minute trip to Christchurch to partake in the last day of the ski season at Mt. Hutt. After polling those around me and considering the costs/benefits, I found myself furiously booking my Christchurch trip. Ah, spontaneity (OK, so maybe not so much, but it's pretty spontaneous for me)! On Friday afternoon, I took a six hour bus ride to Christchurch.

I have always planned on going to Christchurch during my stay in NZed. Most people made the city sound pretty dull yet, they still advised me to go simply because well, it is Christchurch. Bearing that in mind, I was not expecting too much from the city itself and went under the pretense that I was visiting this place out of tourism obligation. However, Christchurch managed to defy my expectations and shatter any ill conceived assumptions based on the stories of other travelers. In fact, I think Christchurch is one of my favorite places that I have been to so far, second to Rotorua and Wellington (info to come). To be honest, I am not sure if I derived such pleasure entirely from the place itself or from the traveling alone aspect. While I am counting down the days until my Australia trip with Chloe, traveling by myself was immensely enjoyable and freeing. As I was not limited by the tastes of others, I had an opportunity for some self-reflection and was able to create an itinerary that catered purely to my whims. Also, while I enjoyed the actual activities I participated in throughout my trip, I think the highlight of the entire weekend was conversing with all of the awesome people I met along the way.

A friendly companion sitting across the aisle on the bus to Christchurch was the first to be inducted into my list of fantastic people met on said trip. There I was, just sitting, listening to my ipod, and all of a sudden, from the corner of my eyes, I see this girl flailing her hands, apparently trying to get my attention. While I thought she was just going to inform me that I had a bug on my shoulder or something, she nonchalantly inquired what I was studying. I replied, thinking that she might be in my class which would explain her sudden desire to converse with me. Turns out she was a first year dental hygienist student who had taken a few years off to pursue a professional athletic career in some sort of track/field event. We ended up talking for about four of the six hours spent on the bus. One of my favorite parts about my encounter with her was when there was a lull in the conversation and I resumed listening to music, assuming that our brief chat was over. A few minutes later, she sticks her hand in-between the two head rests in my row of seats, offering me some chocolate covered raspberry jelly bean treat. That gesture inspired me to offer her one of my Tim Tams (for those who don't know, I have an addiction to these delicious biscuits and don't give them away lightly) and initiated a new chain of conversation.

At around 8PM Friday night, I arrived in Christchurch and wandered around until I found my all women hostel. This hostel is certainly one of the best hostels out there and I would recommend it to any female that happens to be in Christchurch. I am grateful to my cousin and my guidebook for recommending it to me. I arrived and immediately Sandra, who runs the hostel, gave me a tour of all the facilities. There was this lovely outdoor courtyard space with couches, hammocks, and space heaters where guests could lounge. Other cool features include the free herb garden, funky staircase and the cafe style dining area complete with lit candles. My room was a 6 person dorm (although I only had at most one roommate, and I even had the room to myself the second night) with a bay window and a window seat. It was a great place and I regret not actually spending more time just lounging around there, enjoying all that the hostel had to offer.

After briefly surveying the hostel, I left to explore Cathedral Square, appropriately named due the the presence of Christchurch Cathedral. The entire time, I was giddy with excitement as I perused the gorgeous square, admiring sculptures and interestingly lit fountains. Knowing that I had an early day the next morning, I returned to the hostel where I ran in to Hannah from Scotland who was cooking in the kitchen. Although I only intended to quickly pass through the kitchen, I ended up talking to Hannah well into the night. She came to NZ for a bit of soul searching (I don't think there exists a better place to find your soul) and has been at the hostel for 5 weeks. She let me try some of the delicious corned beef/mushroom concoction she was inventing and even gave me the recipe. In addition to the recipe, Hannah also offered me her brother's hand in marriage. It's good to have a backup I suppose! Unwillingly, I departed the kitchen in order to rest up for what was supposed to be a day of skiing.

That morning I awoke at 6:15 and rushed to Cathedral Square where I was supposed to meet the bus that would take me to Mt. Hutt. Before leaving, I stopped to chat with my roommate from Tennessee, whom I thought I had woken up. After telling her I was from the suburbs of Philly, she informed me that she knew some people from this tiny school, Bryn Mawr College. It's a small world after all! I then proceeded to tell about my major and classical studies minor to which she responded something along the lines of "You're a Bryn Mawr women, of course you would be doing something with classics. Oh you Mawrters, always going above and beyond!" It would have been lovely to continue my conversation with her but, skiing called. Unfortunately, I found out that not enough people were going skiing that day so they canceled their trip. I rushed into a nearby hostel, frantically inquiring about alternative transportation services. After unsuccessfully phoning a few companies, the guy at the desk suggested that I go skiing on Sunday instead and luckily, I was able to switch my Hanmer Springs day trip around.

With a slight change in plans, I went back to the hostel to slip out of my ski gear. As I made some tea, I met a backbacker from Israel who was delighted to have found a NZ guidebook in Hebrew. I then left to treat myself to breakfast at an amazing cafe because my guidebook recommended their hot chocolate (c'mon, if the hot chocolate is rumoured to be good, you know I'll be stopping by). The hot chocolate, which was multi-layered and served in a large glass jar, was scrumptious, as was the heaping pile of french toast topped with baked bananas and homemade whipped cream. From there I rushed off to meet the HanmerConnections bus which was slated to transport me to Hanmer Springs, about 1.5 hours away from Christchurch. Upon arriving in Hanmer, a quaint, adorable town, I immediately got lost. Once I found my way out, I took a lovely hike up Conical Hill which gave me a lovely view of the surrounding area (see pictures below). I think I should mention here that New Zealanders truly are some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. As I walked up that mountain, every kiwi I ran into smiled and said hello as I passed by. While I know this occasionally happens at home, it's just not the same. To cool down, or rather warm up, from my trek, I scurried over to the hot springs, which attracted me to Hanmer from the getgo. The hottest spring here was 41 degrees Celsius, not as hot as the Polynesian Spa (I'll fill you in later), but still warm enough. While I preferred Rotorua's springs, these were still sufficiently relaxing. I also met this nice person from Sweden who just completed her law degree and escaped to NZ/Australia to fill in the gap between the end of school and start of her job. While waiting for the bus, I perused the small main strip of town. I entered in one shop and as I nonchalantly looked around, I came across the store owner, who strangely reminded me of my 10th grade health teacher, mopping up the floor. The conversation began with her asking me if I needed any help and ended 20 minutes later with me rushing to catch my bus after we had compared and contrasted NZ skiing vs that in Colorado.

After I made my way back to Christchurch around 6PM that night, I decided to explore Christchurch. Christchurch is really quite gorgeous. I kept coming across these wonderful pathways along a stream, surrounded by flowers and bridges (see pictures below). I am a sucker for such scenery so I aimlessly walked around for four hours before going back to the hostel for some sleep.

Again, I awoke early to catch my bus to Mt. Hutt. Along the way, I learned something extremely valuable: never walk along the fast food district at 6:40 on a Sunday morning as you will get hit on by at least ten guys still drunk from the previous evening's activities...even if you are wearing snow pants. As I was grabbing my ski gear, I met this surgeon from India who mistook me for a doctor. It was really cute, when I was catching the lift later that day, I heard someone shouting but assuming that it wasn't directed towards me as I was alone. I turned around and there he was yelling, jumping up and down, trying to get my attention. The ski conditions you ask, some of the worst in my life! Let me just say that, while I don't know if the blind go skiing, I now have an idea of what it would be like to be a blind skier. The mountain was encased in a white fog. Also, it was snowing which is good in theory but not so great in reality. The snow was of the icy variety so you could feel it like pins and needles on your face while making it down the run. As I was going down the mountain, I would have to frequently stop to wipe off my sunglasses (not that it really helped all that much). By the time I made it to the bottom, I had to wipe off my soaking wet face. Normally I only get wet skiing when I fall, however I think I was the wettest I've ever been in my life while wearing clothes. Oh and my hair! I had it in a ponytail and after only being out for a few runs, it became encased in ice. I had to pull ice chunks out of my hair in attempt to desolidify it! It was sort of entertaining to watch experienced skiers randomly fall without warning as they could just not see what was in front of them. This ski session was more a game of where's waldo (or where's the next orange marker delineating the trail) and a test of endurance. While I was waiting in the lodge, wringing out my soaked jacket, I had the pleasure to chat with someone from Galway, Ireland who was a beginning skier that kept coming back for more. For all of about ten minutes, the weather cleared up and the mountain opened another life. If only I had the opportunity to ski the whole mountain the entire day, it would have been awesome. Their upper trails were fantastic and covered with the freshest powder I've ever skied on! Despite the crazy conditions, I was determined to enjoy myself and I think I succeeded!

Once I dropped my ski gear off at the hostel, I resumed my exploration of Christchurch, walking all over the place. Right before sunset, I made it to the botanic gardens, which are absolutely gorgeous. I could wander there for hours! Exiting the gardens, I managed to get lost in Hyde Park. Eventually I found my way around and headed to a place my guide book recommended for dessert. The dessert was extremely pricey and I am on a backpacker's budget so, me being me, I justified the purchase by skipping dinner in favor of dessert. One of the best decisions of the whole trip! I indulged in the Devil's Dream (a three layered mousse/raspberry cake; see picture below) and met this fantastic waiter. While he was seating me, he was inquiring about my line of study. When he found out about my interest in medicine, he immediately became excited and told me about his medical studies in New Mexico and rushed off to get a pamphlet on what he does. Apparently he just left New Mexico a few months ago so he could come here and set up a biomagnetism practice (I'm surprised I haven't experienced this yet considering my mom's love of these holistic/herbal remedies) to help spread the word about this form of healing. He gave me his contact info and told me he would be delighted to help me in any way he could as I pursued medicine. What a cool guy!

I then returned to the hostel and once again ran into Hannah in the kitchen with Nadaya, a long term hostel guest from Malaysia. It was Nadaya's 27th birthday the next day so they were baking birthday cakes and invited me to lick the bowl (perfect timing). Again I ended up talking to Hannah until midnight when we concluded that we would have to meet again. It looks like she will be in Christchurch when I visit again in December so hopefully our paths will cross. Upon returning to my room, I met my roommate for the night. Juin was from Thailand and just finished a intermediate English course in New Zealand. It started out as a simple conversation between two acquaintances and continued on for a few hours. She showed me pictures of all the places she had been, gave me her map and pointed out all of the places that corresponded with her pictures. She was so sweet, I told her what I was studying and she responded by saying that I must be intelligent which I of course denied. Later on when I was writing down my contact info, she told me that I definitely am intelligent as I am left handed. I've heard of that saying before but it was cool to be told about it from someone who deeply believes in it. Hopefully she makes it to Dunedin so we can meet again!

The next morning I hopped on a 8AM bus and journeyed back to Dunedin. Honestly the only downside of my whole trip was the minor sunburn I sustained skiing and losing my sunglasses somewhere in the course of the trip. Overall, I had a fantastic time and am overwhelmingly glad that I went. I cannot wait to go back to Cchurch with Ebony in December! Unfortunately, I must get through my finals first. Bummer. If only I could find my motivation and stop procrastinating. Well, I hope you enjoyed my insanely long post. Be on the look out for an upcoming post going through my midsemester break!

Before I forget, here are some lovely pictures from my trip posted just for your eyes!



Look what I found! I sort of have a thing for red telephone booths. An awesome taxi driver spotted me attempting to take a picture of myself inside the booth, took pity on me, and offered to help.








The Devil's Dream. So worth it.















Christchurch Botanical Gardens














On the way back from Mt. Hutt













I frantically snapped this picture during the five seconds that the weather cleared up. I don't know if you can tell, but look at my hair, you can start seeing the formation of ice chunks.

















My lovely hostel room













A cool fountain outside of Cathedral Square












My hot chocolate in a jar with a chocolate fish!














One of the many walkways paralleling a stream in Christchurch.












One of the views from the top of Conical Hill in Hanmer Springs













View from my Hanmer Springs hike














Christchurch Cathedral













Walking back to my hostel at night










While I impatiently wait for the spring weather here, I encourage you to fall into fall back home!