Akaroa

Hello,

I hope everyone is doing well. The little blue penguins turned out so great. They're so tiny!! We saw a little over 70 of them (at least thats how many they say there were, but i thought there were more in the 50-60 range. i guess they're better at counting miniture penguins) They swim up from the beach in little groups and walk across this wide path as they make their way to a little shire of mini-houses. Penguins make you smile, its decided. I went to the penguin reserve with a cool couple from the UK, Scott and Susara. They were really nice and were going north the next day also and were nice enough to take me along.

On the drive I read about Timaru in the Lonely Planet guide. Now, the lonely planet guide can find the coolest little things in just about any town, so when it said "apart from the something something museum, there is really no reason to stop here." That meant i stayed with Susara and Scott all the way to their final destination: Akaroa. Definitely the best thing i could have done. The Bon Accord hostel in Akaroa was amazing. really friendly host (Cathy and Boots her dog) but the coolest part by far was a comfy sitting room built over a stream. My first night there I had some pasta (really, every night i have pasta), put on some chill music, and took a nap to the sound of the water.

That alone convinced me to stay one more night and the next day I took the woodills walk around akaroa. The walk was really peaceful (and moderately tough in some spots). Lots of sheep, a few horses, a random chicken...i'm not really sure what that was doing there, and even gave a deer a head rub--a farming deer, not a wild one. Right in the middle of the walk was this garden/house where you pay 8 dollars for a berry drink that was perfect. I can't really find the words to express how cool it was.

I've come to christchurch this morning. Cathy, the owner of the hostel, gave me a ride. Its about 1 1/2 hours away from akaroa! she was headed into town anyway, but it was cool of her to take me along. I feel like a nerd for worrying about my transportation way back in te anau. In new zealand there really is no need to worry about anything.

I ended up in the same room as pauline (laura left this morning to see whales in kaikura) so i'll meet up with her later. The hostel feels really comfortable and has a huge mastiff like dog named murphy that gets easily attached to guests and cries anytime someone leaves.

I've sent a cd of pictures home so in the next few weeks i'm hoping my mom will be able to put up a few of them. I'd put them up myself but you have to download some program to do it and i can't do that at internet cafes.