6:36 p.m. - 2002-03-04
I have an ouchy.
I hurt.
About two hours ago, I tripped and sprained my ankle while sheep hunting.
But first, an update.
So, last I left you I was in Westport, a small town on the west coast of the south island. Well, let me tell you about that night. Me and this girl Anna decided to go for dinner and a couple of beers. We started at an Irish place called Baileys, but were slightly put off my the old, skanky guy singing the NZ national anthem next to us and mumbling what I can only think were some kind of greetings to us. So we left for the town bar- Red Fox.
It was a quiet night. Very few people from the bus were there, so Anna and I went into a corner with our beers and she taught me how to play Backgammon (which is actually a really cool game, and I even won a couple of times, though I'm pretty sure Anna was being easy on me. I still gloated, though, not that I'm that competitive or anything).
Anyhow, we were enjoying the game when, all of a sudden, one of the local women got up on the bar and started dancing with a pole. Not a thin one that strippers do with, but a big, thick log like pole that was keeping the roof up. I have a feeling she was slightly pissed. I knew she was pissed when she undid her fly and pulled down her pants and started dancing with the pole very seductively. Eventually, the bartender stopped her. I think it was some kind of health violation. You think?
It didn't end there, though. Next she started dancing with some local guy (a nice skanky drunk one at that. He was grabbing her ass, and she his. Ithink they were having a good time together.
Anyhow, that was our taste of the local NZ wildlife in Westport. Quite entertaining, I tell you.
The next morning, we headed down the coast. We stopped many times to look at various things. We saw a penguin on the beach, visited some cool geological features of the coast and had a generally good time. We ended our journey in a very, very, very small place called Mahanipua. We stayed in a small, rugged hostel that is basically setup for Kiwi experience and had an awesome meal of steak and potatoes that our bus driver cooked (I will have to fill you in on our driver next time - he's, how shall I say, interesting). ANyhow, Mahinapua hostel has a bar that, traditionally, hosts a big party for the kiwi bus that is there at the time. A "fancy dress" party as it is called in our guide book. Fancy dress should really read cross-dressing. They had a big pile of old clothes, and the guys dressed up as women, and the girls as guys. It was quite exciting. I even had a nice hairlip moustache and my name was Jay. I took much pleasure in naming people that night. It was fun and full of drink. A pretty good night, all in all.
Woke up the next morning and, surprising, did not have a hangover. I was quite impressed, let me tell you.
That brings us to today. We left Mahinapua and headed further down the coast. We, again, stopped at various beatifual and interesting coastal venues. Our last stop was a place where they do goldpanning, and, for the low,low price of $10 (NZ, which is 7 Canadian, I love this country!!!!) I got to go gold panning. It was quite enjoyable, and I now have a very teeny, tiny bit of gold in a small jar in my pocket. Tres cool.
The sheep hunting thing came next. On our way out, there were a bunch of sheep in a field, so the bus driver told us we should get out and try to catch a sheep. Apparently, he grew up on a farm and had done this many times before and thought it would be a real hoot. Well, it was pretty ok until I tried to jump over a large wet part of the field, twisted my ankle and soaked myself up to my knees. Yeah, what a hoot. Now, I'vegot a big swollen ankle (actually there's a tensor bandage around it at the moment thanks to Anna) and I'm supposed to do a full day, 8 hour hike and climb up a glacier tomorrow. Yeah, great. Either it will heal by tomorrow or I will be in pain and slowing the group up. I'm still doing it, damnit, it is supposed to be absolutely awesome!!!
Anyhow, that's it up to the present. Hope everyone is having fun back home and freezing their butts off (it makes the expense of coming here that much more worthwhile when I know I'm totally missing winter cold and snow). Take care everyone and I'll talk to you later.
