Catlins, Central Otago: Light Tramps, A lot of Food, and Camping

Kiwi Slang lesson six: car parts, expressions and swearing!

bonnet (noun): hood of the car.

boot (noun): trunk of a car.

"oh my giddy aunt!" (expression) pronounced "oh my gidday ah nt" : similar to "oh my gosh!" or "I can't believe that happened!" or "holy cow!".

"no worries" (expression): meaning many things, from "you're welcome" to "no big deal", to "no problem".

wanker (noun): a derogatory word for a person who is a jerk.

bloody (adjective): a popular swear word, used to express frustration, anger, or annoyance.

Person 1: The boot and the bonnet of our car won't shut, so I've tied them with rope.

Person 2: Aw yeah, how'd that happen?

Person 1: Another car crashed into us and then floored off before we could get it's bloody license plate!

Person 2: Oh my giddy aunt! What a wanker!

Person 1: Luckily though, I'm insured; so, no worries.

* * *

Before Simon and I headed out Sunday night for Balclutha to visit Simon's parents, we went to LoneStar. LoneStar is an Elvis-themed, "South of the [American] border" restaurant. It's always funny to see American themed restaurants in NZ, especially when they're not totally aware of the theme. After a huge dinner of chicken burritos and vegetarian nachos, we hopped in Anthony (my car) and rode to Balclutha.

Simon's parents were excited to see us, and after spending a night hanging out with their golden retriever puppy, Amber (that name is way too close to "Abi"), and having a few glasses of wine, we were ready to get on the road again. Simon drove us into the Catlins where we stopped at "Jack's Blowhole". This was a little tramp through paddocks with incredible views of the east coast (think: major cliffs, huge waves, idyllic scene). After walking for awhile we saw it: this enormous crevice/precipice where water tunneled through 300 meters of rock- actually it was still pummeling through. Pretty incredible.

Afterward, Simon and I walked back through the rain and hail (it had been a beautiful day) with our coats over our heads. We drove a bit farther until we came to Surat Bay, once again the weather had turned beautiful for a moment. We managed to hike through beautiful dunes until we got to a beach boasting sea lions. Although we didn't see any sea lions, we did catch the beginning and end of a major storm. To get to the beach you have to race between huge waves (tide coming in), and these massive, vertical dunes. Unluckily for Simon and I an enormous storm came in over the ocean. We managed to keep beach walking until the storm passed, but it was definitely intense being in the "eye" of the storm on the beach.

Si and I then decided we wanted to camp in Central Otago (we were in the Catlins- Southland), a few hours away. The weather is normally really warm in Central Otago because it's not on the coast. After about a half hour of driving, we were passing huge sheep paddocks with tiny lambs. One of these tiny lambs had somehow gotten out of the barbed fenced paddock and was searching, and crying, for a way back in to it's mom. Simon and I parked the car and attempted to corner this little, crazed lamb. After about three failed attempts (this was one athletic and stubborn lamb!), Simon somehow managed to corner the lamb, pick it up, and drop it in the paddock. The lamb ran willy-nilly across the field and the child-parent reunion was complete! Very cute. I definitely had images of returning home for Christmas going through my mind!

After high-fiving for about ten minutes, Simon and I were back on the road. The Post Office at Clyde (Emily you'll remember this) was turned into a beautiful cafe that we ate dinner at. Completely full of local veggies, and berry cobbler, Simon and I sat on a bench outside and enjoyed the setting sun. Finally, realizing that we needed to find a campground before complete sunset, we drove around the edge of the mountains surrounding Clyde. Beginning to panic (a lot of paddocks were private property), we were about to give up hope and camp by the side of the road, when we actually stumbled upon a legitimate camping ground. A very, very "dodgy" camping ground mainly filled with broken down trailers. We ended up camping by a stream nearby, away from the creepy rusting, smoking trailers. After a night of Simon's symphonic snoring, we were ready to go at eight AM (Simon was ready at 5:30, but I gave him a death glare, so he took a walk instead).

It was a beautiful morning, about 65 degrees F. After a quick bite to eat in Alexandra, we drove all the way back to Dunedin, feeling really good about our trip. I took a huge nap when we got back, and then made enchiladas for the flat. It's been a good "weekend" for me, and I'm (sort of, kind of, okay not really, but trying to be) ready to go back to work tomorrow.

Anyway, happy days to all of you! Hope that everything is well in the States and otherwise!

Cheers,

Abi

The Last Few Months: Mt. Cook, Milford, 21sts, and Moeraki

Kiwi Slang lesson #4 (0r #5?)

hungus: noun (pronounced hun-guss)

someone who eats more than they should.

quite: (adverb? unsure on this one...)

added onto something it either means "a little" or "a lot" (VERY CONFUSING).

completely contextual.

wee: (another adverb... maybe)

little

gutted: verb (emotive descriptor)

to be upset by something.

knackered: verb (emotive descriptor)

to be very tired, almost falling asleep.

example:

Person A: Simon is such a hungus, he eats us out of house and home!

Person B: Aw yeah, I was quite gutted when he ate all of the chocolate chips I had just bought.

Person A: I'm completely knackered from running to the grocery store every morning!

Person B: Do you think he'll be too upset if we tell him about this?

Person A: Nah, only a wee bit. He'll just keep eating anyway.

Hope that you've used the break from my posting to get on your Kiwi slang, ay?

I know it's been awhile, and I really have pretty much no excuse, so for that I apologize.

Here's a brief summary of what I've been up to in the months I've been away from this blog (next blog will include pictures, I promise...).

September:

In the beginning of September management changed at the Mannequin. Jana and Nigel (the old owners) moved/are moving to Australia, and Eric and his wife Gaye became the new owners. Eric is sort of a senile Austin Powers, consistently traipsing through the Mannequin with a tea towel over his shoulder singing old songs like "Sophie's Mother" or "Mona Lisa" (is that song by Frank Sinatra?), and telling customers things like "are you being served" or "let's go shopping!". I am now one of the "old workers" as opposed to the newbie. I'm still pretty new to hospitality, but it's gotten consistently, for the most part, better.

I took a trip to Christchurch (where Simon's sister Marijke lives) and Mt. Cook (Maori: Aoraki) with Simon in early September. It was completely incredible. We went to Hanmer Springs (the hot pools are beautiful, warm, and like saunas, especially in the rain). We decided on a whim to visit Mt. Cook. One minute we were on a beach basking in the early-spring sun, and the next we were at a snow field. For some reason I didn't imagine that Mt. Cook would be that far away from the East Coast of New Zealand... whoops. It took us a few hours, and I was still in my swimsuit when we found ourselves in a few feet of snow by a lodge.

The next morning we woke up and took a tramp through this beautiful completely pristine wonderland. Thankfully I had brought my hiking boots, but had no coat, so I just layered up like a fat marshmallow, and we set out. It's impossible to explain how amazing the end of the tramp was: ten people sitting in front of a huge frozen lake, and these enormous mountains, listening for avalanches. Amazing.

Simon and I took an awesome trip to Milford Sound for my birthday. We drove to Te Anau (which I still can't pronounce), had a look around, and then drove to Milford on the same day. It was a little rainy, but the fiords were still completely remarkable (look to next post for some serious pictures). We ate dinner at a pool hall out there (the only restaurant in kilometers) and then set up a tent a little ways away. After we set up our tent Simon gave me a slice of birthday cake he had hidden away (very sweet (oh man, I'm puny)), and we ate it together. Because our two man tent was more like a half man tent with Simon's 6'6 frame, we put the box outside. Ten minutes later we heard noises all around our tent. Simon, being the manly man he is, was convinced a serial killer had tracked us down. Opening up the flap of the tent incredibly cautiously we peeked out to spot a Kea (New Zealand alpine parrot) with my birthday cake box in its beak! So basically, I shared my 22nd birthday cake with a Kea.

The next morning we took a few walks, looked around at waterfalls, and then set out for home. Stopping at Balclutha to fuel up and see Simon's parents (and Roy), I was surprised by birthday cupcakes! All in all it was a very good (as in baked goods) weekend.

October:

I had a few 60 hour weeks at work in October leaving me with little time to do much else (other than sleep). I went to a few 21sts, which are a big deal in New Zealand. Dozens of people are invited to huge parties, where the main focal point is the birthday person taking 21 shots or a "yardie" of beer (about 9 beers) in a short amount of time. Before that, influential people from that person's life give teasing speeches normally about how the birthday person has been drunk, or can't drive, or was caught naked in a public place... etc. etc. Basically your 21st birthday is complete humiliation. I have a theory that this is part of the "tall poppy" syndrome in New Zealand. Basically, Kiwis don't like anyone getting too cocky or confident, you're part of a national community first and foremost. So, if you do end up getting too confident in what you do, or too good at what you do, everyone else cuts you down (you are, in essence too "tall" of a "poppy"). 21sts sort of work the same way, "you're finally an adult! time to feel complete and utter degradation!".

As an American, I don't really get it.

Another real New Zealand thing is barbecuing (especially sausages and eggs). Sarah, one the chefs at the Mannequin, had a barbecue sometime in early October. Shaun, the head chef, Andy, the kitchenhand who goes to uni for Finance and wants to marry me to get a green card so he can move to New York City and become a Wall Street giant (the news hasn't affected abroad optimism apparently, haha Andy), and a few of Sarah's flatmates were there. I ate a lot of meat (as the token vegetarian) and fell asleep on Sarah's couch watching Outrageous Fortune. Very Kiwi of me.

A few weeks later Simon and I went to Sarah's 21st. I will soon post pictures of her doing a yardie with foam all over her face. Then you'll be able to see the New Zealand drinking culture firsthand! It was a really fun party, with backyard cricket (I got severely reprimanded for treating it like baseball), heaps of sausages, and, of course, American music in the background (like "Born in the USA", an awkward moment for me). Cromwell is a beautiful town surrounded by snow-tipped mountains and a gorgeous lake.

Also in October, I skied "the Remarkables" (the mountains in Lord of the Rings). Simon drove me up the last weekend of skiing. We slept in the car in Arrowtown, woke up to take the "Millennium Walk" around the aqua-ish river there. After some crepes for breakfast (a French couple opened the shop, the diversity here is wild), it was time to go to Queenstown for skiing. Powdery, warm, and sunny, it was a moment I'm going to remember for a long, long time. It felt like being in a movie, skiing with these incredibly views on all sides. I felt like I was going to pee in my pants on the drive up there, no rails on the roads (sorry, Mom). It was worth it for the incredible day though. I had a sunglasses burn for about two weeks, but that, too, was worth it.

At the end of October Simon and I went to the Moeraki Boulders. The Boulders are pretty uninteresting, they are basically huge circular rocks that were maybe carried there, maybe not, by indigenous people. Sorry to seem uncultured, but I wasn't as impressed as the other tourists there who snapped about 100 pictures from each angle. At the end of the day, the sunny beach was nice, but I don't think I'm able to talk up the dozen rocks like they're the Babylonian Gardens. However, Simon and I did find an incredible seafood restaurant called "Fleur's". This is literally the best seafood I have ever had. The fish of the day is caught by fisherman literally THAT DAY and given to the cafe already filleted by the same fisherman. The views out onto the bay were incredible, the fish was the best I've ever had, and watching the sunset in this little wooden cafe with live music, and Simon was seriously priceless.

Anyway, just a little catch-up for now, soon I will post pictures and I promise to post sooner than the next Millennium!

Love you guys heaps.

Hope all is well in your part of the world,

Abi