Bugger! ( definition: oops, darn, etc.)

I squash my own bugs now. I must be growing up.

After an exhausting tramp on Saturday and a long night in Flat 42 (my adopted flat), I was more excited than I usually am about sleeping. I pulled back my covers only to discover a rather large black bug squirming around in my sheets! I started to panic when I realized I had to sleep in that bed because there was no other place to go and I would have to deal with it myself because there was nobody else to dispose of it for me. But I had to get over my fears quickly – Mom wasn’t there to scoop it into a Tupperware container, name it, and put it outside after a day; and my adventurous friend Anna from camp wasn’t there to smash it with gusto. After much swatting and slapping on my part, and with the involvement of three tissues, a piece of notebook paper, and one clog, I succeeded in killing the bug! I think a sheet-washing is in the near future, but, no worries, the bug is dead!

This Saturday, Tori and I boarded a bus to Sumner, a small beach town near Christchurch, to do some exploring and tramping. We’d wanted to go on the tramping club’s all day tramp on Saturday, but if filled up before we could sign up to go. This was rather unfortunate, seeing as the tramping club (CUTC) counts among its members many handsome young men, particularly Germans. (Ms. Meng, this is as much romance as there is so far!) I have found that German males (well, females too) speak English with an especially cool accent. Tori met a German when she went on a weekend hike earlier, so I was hoping for similar luck. Perhaps this coming weekend I’ll go with the CUTC . . . I might even take a crossword puzzle book!

But, back to this Saturday. Tori and I left in the morning, took two buses to Sumner beach, and explored the small town and the beach. We climbed through this cave on the beach and up on top of it (see pictures with lighthouse). Then we set off to the mountain that we later discovered divided Sumner and Taylor’s Mistake. The climb was steep, but we stopped often to take pictures – Tori is overly (sometime sickeningly!) enthusiastic about almost everything and can’t resist taking pictures of anything that has the potential to be fascinating. She’s almost six feet tall, so I was happy to take breaks from hiking at her quick pace for her to take photos. Eventually, we made it over to Taylor’s Mistake Beach, where there were lots of surfers and houses built into the cliffs. Sadly, there was no road back as I had hoped, so we turned around and headed back up the mountain after resting on the beach.

Finally, we made it back down to Sumner Beach, where I could put my blistery feet in the cool water. This tramp was my first real use of hiking boots – ever! After three or so hours of hiking, I was exhausted!

There have been some “firsts” lately that I’ll share:

1. I took my first Latin test today. No worries, she gave us lollies (see below).
2. I took my first bike ride today. I just picked up the bike, then I rode it back to Ilam Village. Cyclists use the roads here, so I had to be extra cautious to stay on the left. It is quite the challenge – and the consequences of riding on the right are rather severe.
3. I wrote the date correctly – day/month/year – for the first time.
4. As I wrote above, I killed a bug. It is somewhat of a milestone, so it bears mentioning again.
5. Again, as above, I went on my first real tramp this weekend.

Fall break is approaching quickly, and I have plans! I’m going on a driving trip and a tramp with the family that Kate’s Godmother knows here. We’re going to the Central Otago region, and we’ll be tramping the Routeburn Track. It’s a three-day, two-night tramp. After that, I’m taking a train up to Picton (the north coast of the South Island), where I’ll stay for a night before taking a ferry to Wellington (the capital city). I’ll be by myself for the rest of the trip – just about everyone else is staying on the South Island. Then, I’ll fly to Sydney, and from there I’m taking a bus tour from Sydney to Melbourne. After a few days in Melbourne, I’ll head back to Christchurch. There are only eight more days of lectures until this three-week break. Hooray!

Kiwi Vocabulary:

• Flash = showy, ostentatious, new, etc. (example: “I can’t believe they built that flash house!”)
• Fizzy = coke, soda, soft drink (example: “I went to the vending machine to get a fizzy.”)
• Rubbish = garbage, trash
• Lolly = candy of any kind, chocolate, chewing gum
• Lifestyle block = a house on significant acreage away from the city; not a working farm; looked down upon by city-dwellers and “real” farmers

A final note:

I have not yet seen all of the toilet buttons – each day I have to figure out new symbols, colours, and shapes. I have thought about taking pictures of all the different varieties, but it might be difficult to sneak a camera into the toilets without arousing suspicion or provoking kiwis to make ‘stupid American’ comments.