Kaikoura and the beginning of Christchurch

Hello from Lincoln University in Christchurch! It's 7:45 pm on Wednesday the 23rd, so we have almost exactly two more weeks left here. It's funny to think that it's so soon, but I think by then I will be ready. I'm not looking forward to it being cold and probably snowy, but it's going to be nice to just be at home.

I apologize for the lack of photo update. I'm on an outdated machine in the computer lab and it would be a pain to get all my stuff onto Flickr. I will try to commandeer someone's laptop soon and get it done.

So Sunday was our Interislander ferry ride from Wellington to Picton on the South Island. It was about three hours, the last half of which was packed with fabulous views. A bus picked us up in Picton and after struggling to get all of our bags in the bottom compartments, we drove about 2 hours to Kaikoura.

We arrived at our hostel, the Dusky Lodge, and packed in four or six people to a room. Kaikoura is definitely a one-horse town and there wasn't much to do, so Charles, Melody, and I rented bikes from the lodge and went for a ride for what must have been 2.5 hours. We went down probably 6km on one road, hoping to find the "Forest Walk." But we ran into a long portion of road that was gravel, not paved, and extremely hard to ride because of the surface and slight incline. I walked most of the way because pedalling was pretty much impossible. The Forest Walk was apparently an hour-long thing and we were pretty spent by then, so we agreed to just sit a bit and tell everyone we got to the top of the mountain a few hundred yards away. The ride back was mostly downhill so it was a lot easier and a whole lot faster. I don't think I've ever gone that fast for so long on a bike. It was awesome and terrifying at the same time, especially on the gravel.

After returning the bikes, the three of us went into town to find dinner. We settled on a bar type place without realizing that they served tapas-style plates, which are meant to be shared. We just got one each, though, and watched Phil Collins music videos for a while before moving on to another place to top off our stomachs. While we waited for our food we played a game of pool (I am Horrible with a capital H) and Charles spotted a man who kept looking over at us. Later, the same man directed me to the silverware without me asking, then approached us and asked us if we were from Delaware, had we come in on the ferry today, and were we going whale watching tomorrow? Turns out he was going to be our bus driver. Sorta creepy.

Later that night Charles and I walked down to the beach to check out some stars. We found Orion but I couldn't spot the Southern Cross. Which was disappointing because I learned to find it really easily when I was in Australia and was sad when I went home and couldn't see it again. I guess it was just really comforting to know that when I looked up, it would always be there. I'll have to get someone to point it out to me again.

Anyway, the whale watch was Monday morning aaaaand it was the bumpiest, most nauseating boat ride I have ever been on. 3/4 of the people on the boat ended up making use of the large supply of seasickness bags, me included. The captain found us a sperm whale hanging out on the surface, refueling from an hour long deep sea dive. And true to form, I cried. Partly because I was amazed at being so close to such a huge creature, and partly because I was nauseous and hyperventilating. I got the all important whale tail photos as he dove down again, and then I was ready to go back to terra firma. Much to my chagrin, though, the captain found another whale and we had to ride around to find him and watch him spout for a few minutes. At this point we had been in and out of the cabin about five times, which made the seasickness even worse. And THEN we found a huge pod of dusky dolphins and had to get in and out to see them too. They were quite fun to watch but we had been on the boat entirely too long. I was feeling terrible but I thought my breakfast was going to stay put, but I couldn't make it through the ride home. My friend Brittany described the cabin as "like a horror movie" with everyone getting sick and all. A bunch of us just laid on the ground after we got off the boat. Horrible. We heard it was going to be a little rough that day but no one could have anticipated how bad 2m swells would be. Apparently the last group our bus driver had didn't have any problems and loved the whale watch. So it was neat to see the whales and the dolphins and I got some nice pictures, but I am absolutely traumatized and don't want to go on a boat, much less a whale watch, for a very long time.

After that terrible experience, everyone recovered for an hour or so in Kaikoura before getting on the bus again for the drive to Lincoln. In the span of about two hours, with a stop to look at a seal colony, we rode down the coast (rated the world's #12 scenic coast drive, evidently) and through miles and miles of dry farmland. We arrived at Lincoln University outside of Christchurch. The place is very isolated, with a few businesses and one pub down the road. It's an agriculture/science university with only 3000 students, but since it's summer there are only 250 enrolled. There's also a hoarde of cricket players from around the country staying here for some summer program. So people were a little worried about not having anything to do ever. Another UD Study Abroad group met us and showed us to our rooms. They are on an Animal Science program and are staying here for their whole time, save free weekends and farm visits. It felt like being back in Delaware, not in New Zealand. I feel like I know or have seen every other person on that trip from classes or 4-H camp or something. Very odd.

Tuesday the whole group was supposed to meet for class and housekeeping matters at 9:15 am but we had to wait for an hour before our professors showed up with a representative from the university. Needless to say, the feelings of pessimism and unease from the previous day resurfaced in everyone. This trip is tough because 1) our professors have never done this before and 2) we move around so much. So there's a lot of moving and waiting and not knowing what the heck is going on.

By the time we got to class we didn't have much time left so we had a short meeting, only discussing one of the three stories on our syllabus. We read out loud and then we were made to act it out, as our reading apparently was too awkward to get a feel for the action of the story. Great. It was quite awkward but also entertaining to watch our friends up on "stage" making fools of themselves. I got to be an albatross, flying across the room twice and ignoring the other characters. I hear there are pictures, so hopefully I can get my hands (wings?) on those. I bet they're gorgeous.

Theeen we piled on the bus again for a brief tour of Christchurch. It started raining on the way there and when we got to a lookout point it was gusting and raining and terribly foggy. We couldn't see anything and my umbrella was blown inside-out twice. Again, unrest and negativity. We were then dropped off in the town of Christchurch to go to a tourist information centre and wander around the wet streets for an hour. So fun. Then back to Lincoln, where the power was out and we had to move our scheduled barbeque dinner inside. It was delicious, by the way. At night a small group of us ended up sitting in the hallway and talking. It was like the freshman year dorm experience I never had. It was nice, actually.

Today I was on my way to an Independent Study meeting and I locked myself IN my dorm room and had to climb out the window to get to the office and request help. Thank goodness I'm on the first floor. The cleaning ladies (who are the happiest cleaning ladies I've ever seen, by the way) considered vaulting each other into the window to get it from the inside. So I missed the meeting while I waited for a maintenance guy to come. He had to climb in the window and figured out that it was just a little button thing that locks the latch in place. I got to the classroom just as the other class was about to start, so I just stayed for it, as I wanted to hear the discussion about one of the poems they were working on. Afterwards we waited a while for the Lincoln guy to come get us to distribute ID cards (for logging onto the computers and swiping into buildings, etc) before leaving to get lunch when he didn't show. We found him on the way and got our cards and then had lunch. Aaaand then we bussed into Christchurch again for our alternative Folklore class. Our professor hired a storyteller to well, tell us some stories at the Botanical Gardens.

The lady came in a green patterned cape, and with a carved staff and perpetually twinkling eyes. She was the type of person who's absolutely delighted to be alive and talking to people. Thus she was really great at telling stories. Unfortunately though, we were outside with a big group that was hard to manage in slightly overgrown forest trails. Plus she was telling longer versions of stories we'd already heard 10 times so far and we didn't realize it would be so long. But it was alright. Afterwards we were left in the city of Christchurch for about an hour, during which we wandered around through shops and outdoor merchant tables. There's the World Buskers Festival happening in the city right now, but when we were there everyone was wrapped or wrapping up. Disappointing, but I'm sure we will see some cool performers/performances another day.

Whew. Blogging is seriously hard work. I've been at this for quite a while but I'm all caught up now. Tomorrow we are off to Dunedin. We were supposed to go to the theatre, but the only thing playing is a psychic show. Our one professor has booked us for the event, though, so we'll see what happens. My third eye forsees generalizations and lame jokes. Oh well. The ride is apparently 6 hours (oy) and we will be there Thursday night, Friday, and part of Saturday. Then it's back to Christchurch for an action-packed day in town at the Botanical Gardens, Canterbury Museum, Art Centre market, and hopefully some buskers. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. Maybe Saturday night. Or Sunday. Or Monday. See you then, internet.