The Amazing Maize Horror Maze

After a few weekends of tramping I decided to take it easy this weekend and spend some time with my flatmates. We drove up to Christchurch Friday night and had a pretty fun weekend full of yummy food, op-shopping, making fun of Canadian-isms, street performers and The Amazing Maize Horror Maze. Our trip began with a search of Dunedin for a car mp3 music player because we weren’t about to drive 5 hours to Christchurch without one. After phoning several friends, one failed attempt with a flatmates brother and a failed visit to The Warehouse (kiwi version of K-mart) we were finally successful at Dick Smith’s electronics. Music in hand we drove North up the coast stopping for ice cream and beer (as you do on Friday night road trips in NZ) at the two-four (like 7-11) in Temuka. The conversation in the two-four with the cashier-lady was hilarious and went something like this:

“Can I see your ids?” – cashier lady
I throw my passport down on the counter, cashier doesn’t bother to look at them and says instead:
“Thanks nevermind, I just ask and then if somebody is willing to show me I figure I don’t actually need to check … you girls aren’t going to just sit around at home drinking beer tonight are you?” – cashier lady
“No, we’re going to drink it while driving up to Christchurch!” – Amelia very excitedly
Cashier lady looks at us somewhat concerned …
“It’s OK, she’s not the sober driver” – Emma

Saturday we wandered into central Christchurch and came across a Canadian street performer. His act was pretty normal involving balls and cups and some standard magic but his final trick was he somehow hid 4 oranges and a melon underneath his cups and hat right in front of our eyes, which was pretty impressive. We ate some super yummy Indian food, went op-shopping (value village shopping), which my flatmates were pretty excited about. I got the impression coming to Christchurch was kind of like going to the “big city”. Then because it was so warm and sunny out made our way to the beach for the afternoon! Napping in the sun is really the best way to spend a weekend.

Saturday night we drove out of town to a MASSIVE maize horror maze. We wandered around the corn field for an hour in the dark, getting lost and getting the crap scared out of us by creepy people in the maze. Creeping through corn fields after dark is actually pretty scary, and even more so when there are people waiting at every bend to terrify you. Our weekend finished off with a massive breakfast eaten in our pajamas at the famous Sophie’s cafe. All in all an excellent weekend.

Emma, Amelia and I outside the coookie factory in Christchurch

Quotes of the weekend:

“Are these the things you put on your legs when tramping?” – Emma, pointing at my dry bags, but referring to gaiters
“Um no, those only have one hole in them. To put them on your legs they would need two holes” – me, laughing at her

“It’s been my dream ever since I was a child to wander around a giant maize horror maze.” – Brittany

Dictionary update/Canadianisms:
fizzy = pop, I asked for a “fizzy pop” and got funny looks
lolly = candy
togs = swimsuit
meat pies = pies, I asked for a “meat pie” and was told that was the equivalent of asking for a “pie pie”

Driving on the left side

I don’t think I’m ever going to get the hang of traffic in New Zealand. Four months of insane South American cities I can handle but here in New Zealand I keep almost getting hit by cars! First you have the fact that people drive on the left hand side of the road, and bike on the left, and swim on the left … you get the picture. Plus pedestrians don’t have the right of way here so you’d better not expect anybody to stop for you at crosswalks. Every time I go biking I shoulder check the wrong way and crossing the street is just as dangerous. So while the muggers and kidnappers in latin america didn’t get me, the drivers in New Zealand might

I spent the last week just hanging out in Christchurch, enjoying the beach and some short hikes, as well as yummy NZ fish and chips (they really love their fish and chips). I love the beaches here, it’s been a long time since I swam at one with open ocean all the way to another continent and the waves here are massive and tons of fun to play in. This week Kyra, Rob and I are heading to Arthur’s Pass to go camping and hiking for a few days before they go home to Vancouver and I head back to Dunedin.

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NZ Dictionary:
pharmacy = chemist
shout me a drink! = get me a drink!

“The sheep are not mocking you!”

I arrived in Christchurch and had a great reunion with my friends Kyra and Rob (who have been living in NZ for the past few months) at the bus station, it was fabulous to see them again. It was a really hot summer afternoon (oh the joy of summer in January!) so we decided the best way to spend it was drinking beer and eating fish and chips. We called our other friend Sam (a kiwi I met while he was on exchange in Vancouver) and had a gloriously lazy afternoon and evening. I’ve never been a big fan of fish and chips but they were actually yummy here. It was really nice to meet up with old friends again on the other side of the world!

Then today Kyra and Rob took me on a hike in the Port Hills above Christchurch. It was a super windy day, New Zealand gets all the weather systems blowing up from Antarctica so it can go from sunny and warm to cold and rainy really quickly. We had great views of the city and the surrounding suburbs and of course lots and lots of sheep!

“The sheep are tempting me with their tantalizing fluffiness!” – Kyra, who then tries to sneak up on one for a photo and it just runs away
- Rob mutters something under his breath about the stupid sheep always running away
“The sheep are not mocking you!” – Tracy