The Backpacker Lifestyle

Alright, I'm at an internet cafe now so I won't have to stop early because of a buzzer! When I returned with my groceries yesterday afternoon I met another new roommate...who's also American! Haha, she's from Florida! Her name's Beth and she's already left today so I didn't get to know her to well but she was super laid-back and nice. She actually had been in Hawaii for about 7 months before coming to NZ for 2 and 1/2 months. She participated in the "wwoof" organization in Hawaii. I had no idea Hawaii had that. For those of you that don't know, wwoof stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. If I don't find a job in the city, I might do that for awhile.

Then I went with Lindsey to the movie theater and we watched "Premonition"--that Sandra Bullock movie where her husband dies and then he isn't dead or whatever. It sucked, so don't see it. After that we snuck in and watched the Bourne Supremacy...haha, 2 for the price of one! I had already seen this, but it didn't matter because it was just as good if not better than the first time. After that we went to this bar I found called "The Ivory Lounge." It was a dueling piano bar!!! Obviously it wasn't anything like the Big Bang (a crazy piano bar in Tempe for those that don't know), but it was kind of upscale and much more of a lounge-y feeling. To give you an idea, it was dark inside with some amazing black and white photos of piano keys and I had a glass of Syrah that was fabulous! If you ordered wine at the Big Bang, and if they had any, I think someone would pick up the glass and dump it on your head. We finally left the bar (I have no idea when bars close here) and came back to the hostel and chatted for awhile. Basically that means she talked my ear off for another hour, which was fine by me. :)

This morning came quickly and I ate a granny smith apple that I bought yesterday...OMG! No wonder Wenatchee isn't the apple capital of the world anymore! This granny smith was HUGE and definitely the best one I've ever had!!! But don't worry, I'm still loyal to Stemilt ;). So today I went to the Sky Tower and rode the elevator up to the observation deck! I'll have pictures up soon. It was super high up there! Apparently it's the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. There are some areas where they had glass under your feet and you could look straight down...my fear of heights kind of came in at that point and my legs almost gave out. I went and ate a Kiwi Palova (or something like that) and coffee at the Sky Lounge cafe so I could sit and look out at the harbour for awhile. I was joined by a gal from Sao Paolo, Brazil! She had just got in and was a professor in Brazil. She's only staying in New Zealand for a few days and then to Australia for a conference. I couldn't understand everything she was saying so I'm not sure what she was researching/what she taught.

Now I'm just at an internet cafe on Queen Street which is just downtown and I'm going to go back to the hostel to take a hot shower and cook some lunch. I made the mistake of taking a shower in the morning yesterday (when everyone is taking showers) and it was hardly lukewarm! Yikes! So I'm waiting a bit today for the water to heat up. I booked two more nights at the City Garden Lodge so I'll be staying until Wednesday. Then we'll see from there. I absolutely love the atmosphere of this hostel though! I've met some great people and it's a cute place. I miss the easy access to the internet though. I hope everyone's well!

-Lisa