Crazy Days

So Friday was a good day. Tom, one of my flatmates, and I went into Christchurch and pretty much just lost ourselves down there. There was a really small but cute flea market going on. They had some of the usual stuff that we have at a flea market like jewelry but their is made out of bone. Each symbol has a different meaning and I think I'm going to get one the next time I go into town. Their deals were pretty good too, it's all cheaper than buying at the souvenir shops. Tom spent something like $60 NZD (like $40 USD) there and he got a free t-shirt it was funny, his reasoning on it was now he doesn't have to go Christmas shopping. Haha.

We walked around Cathedral Square and went into the church, which was gorgeous. We even climbed the tower, which consisted of 134 stairs most of them were a very small spiral staircase that was kind of scary. But we made it to the top and the last probably 20 steps were these pretty steep stairs that should have just been a couple of ladders. The view from the top was pretty you could see all of downtown. After that we went to Victoria Square where we saw a group punting down the river (it's called a gondola in Italy). It was funny cause one guy had no problem pushing the boat down the river and then there was this other guy who couldn't control the boat at all. We felt bad figured he was probably a new guy.

After that we went in search of the art museum and botanical gardens. We went the wrong way and ended up heading back to the bus depot instead of the gardens. But that was the point of our trip to get lost and see what we find. Well we ended up at the Gardens because we asked a couple of locals which way it was and they were very helpful and pointed us in the right direction. Once we got there we saw some amazing plants. I wish my camera hadn't died because some of these trees are so strange. We actually were inside of a tree! I believe it was a Cyprus tree but, the branches grew to the ground and completely encircled the trunk so it was like a hideaway inside. No one could see you inside it; it was really cool. We then went and searched for the rock garden but didn't end up finding it, but we did find the rose garden but nothing was in bloom since it's winter here, so I'll have to go back in November when it's spring and see if it's prettier then.

When we got back we met up with Heather, Fabian, Clinton, Rebecca, Erica, John, and some others that live in our block. They're amazing people and I've already have some friends. We partied and had a sing-a-long, which was really fun cause we were asking each other questions in song and then you had to answer back in song. The group then got split up cause some of us didn't know where the others went so Heather, Callum and I ended up at a house just across the road from our flats. We met some locals there but they were high schoolers. So not very much fun. I think I got in at like 3 that night. It was a good time.

Yesterday, (Saturday), I got up at 9 and went tramping! It was the first time and it was so difficult cause everything's almost vertical or extremely steep. It was worth it though the views were epic and they looked like they were painted at some points. The higher we got the more breath taking the views became. I still can't believe that I'm here it's incredible. After we finished climbing the mountain, we walked down to Sumner beach, which was probably a good hour, hour-and - half walk from the trail. But along the way we got to see parasailers. It made me want to go, and I think a bunch of us are going to.

Our group of people started out with 6 - 8 people and by the end of the day we had 12 and were calling ourselves the Bearcat tribe. Each one of us has a nickname and I'm black bear due to the fact that I have dark hair. I was skeptical at first but everyone says that Black bears are very cute, so I guess I'll stick with it.

After we got back part of the tribe made West African soup, which was good but really spicy not something I'm a huge fan of. We then began partying again and the group was bigger at the flat but then shrank when we headed for town. Heather, Fabian, Clinton, John, Cameron, Rebecca, and I went to Treehouse were they had karaoke and a mechanical bull. I do have to say watching drunk people try to ride a mechanical bull is pretty damn hilarious. Then we went to Fat Eddie's my favorite bar thus far. I could have stayed there all night if I hadn't been so exhausted from tramping and the night before that.

Today has been pretty chill, not much going on. I went to the mall to pick up my phone but it wasn't ready, which sucks cause I have no clock and no alarm clock and no way to contact anyone. But hopefully it'll be done tomorrow like they said. I think some of us are gonna go to see Bruno tonight, but we'll see how that pans out. Classes start tomorrow and it's exciting but then it's school. I have 3 classes tomorrow and they're all biology classes but that's what a majority of my classes are. So far I have met so many geologists and engineers. Both of the Brits that I hang out with are geologist and two of my flatmates are engineers. I have yet to meet another biologist but I guess that will have to wait til tomorrow.

That's all I have for this weekend.