More than 2000 km, more than $200

     On Friday morning, three girls (eldest girl, awkward girl, cute girl) and I clambered onboard the ferry in Wellington headed for Picton. I brought my own breakfast, but the others weren’t quite as frugal, so they bought the pricey ferry food instead.  Of course, one of the girls (the cute one) couldn’t finish the big portion that she bought, so I helped out.  And I can’t believe, that I was sharing a kebab with the most beautiful girl I have ever seen with a kebab.  When we arrived in Picton, the car rental receptionist asked us if we wanted to get car insurance, to which awkward girl immediately replied, “My mom always tells me not to buy insurance because it’s a waste of money.”  Right in front of the receptionist.  Awkward pause ensues. 

     But before long, we were right on our way, driving on the left side of the road. Aside from the mediocre collection of music and awkward girl’s insistence that the window be open while it was freezing outside, the ride was smooth, and the scenery was terrific.  Cute girl was really into photography, and she had one of those cameras where the lens was more expensive than camera itself.  Additionally, when you pressed the shutter, it make a real clicking sound rather than the digital click that canon powershots made.  My new camera was far weaker but was about the size of a business card.  Side by side, cute girl’s camera was maybe 10 times the size of my camera.  I told her it was because I’m not trying to compensate for something.     
     So we drove along, making repetitious compliments to the scenery and telling our life stories.  Boy do I love talking to white girls.  These are the only people I’ve ever met who are impressed by my ability to speak Chinese.  None of the girls at UC Berkeley fall for that one anymore.  After what seemed like a really short time, we arrived at our first hostel in the middle of the night.  There were only two rooms with two beds in each, so we had to split up.  Guess who got to room with cute girl?  You bet.
     Queenstown is your typical ski resort town.  In other words, it’s seriously all fun and games.  There are so many places and opportunities to waste your money, and not a single place to learn something valuable.  All the houses here are vacation homes, and I don’t think there is a school or a library anywhere.  After my car joined up with the conglomerate gang at our hostel, we split up to do our own activities.  The one thing I regret about this day is that I should have wasted $240 to go bungee jumping.  Although I don’t enjoy huge drops, there’s something about hopping off a cliff helplessly suspended by a rope that intrigues me.
     That night was a big night.  After we watched a game of rugby (I’m really into the All Blacks now), a lot of the group participated in what we would later call “Blackout City”.  Kevin, the only person younger than I am from the group (by 1 month), wasted $400 playing roulette, while the others… well… they don’t quite remember.  Some of my friends reading this will wonder, “Did Simon participate in ‘Blackout City’”?  Here’s a hint for you.  “No.”
     After the beautiful Milford Sound tour, we drove up on the west coast, seeing some more beautiful scenery on the way.  Unfortunately, it did not snow, so I didn’t get a chance to show off my amazing ability to put on tire chains.  In Franz Josef, a small little town before Greymouth, we met up with the group again and participated in a night of alcohol and “Never have I ever”, where I learned the different sex positions and sex venues of my peers.  Fortunately, I went to sleep by 10.

The rest of the trip back was less eventful.  Pictures will suffice.

Milford Sound