So Brittany and I just took an innocent stroll through Kathmandu, NZ's outdoor gear to the likes of Patagonia etc...an awesome brand that offers the tagline "Live the Dream" and "Where do you Play?" But what began as a simple look turned into a laundry list of gear we "needed" to buy. An hour and one missed club meeting later, we saved hundreds of dollars...now officially ready for our tramp on one of New Zealand's "Great Walks" - The Routeburn Track.

We're feeling particularly hard core at the moment, having bought our first pairs of gators (seeing as we'll be doing a fair amount of river crossing...wooohooo). We're almost ready to bust out of Dunedin and see the country...squaring away the details to buy a car, lining up tents, getting little things like cups and bowls for camping...and lots of rain gear.
As for the car situation - five of us girls are going in a car together. (actually two of them are test-driving one as I write). We were split into two groups, but quickly realized that we want to see and do the same things. It should be a fun group.
Yesterday I signed up for guitar lessons...finally (although my past convictions to learn never really worked out...so we'll see how this goes). We're hoping to head to Queenstown this weekend via car. But if that doesn't work out I'll probably hop a bus to meet up with James anways. Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand...with everything from bunjee jumping to jet boating. I think many a person has returned from Qtwn with far less in their wallet...oyee.
Anyways...back to this past weekend. As I was saying before I rushed off to class - James was in town.
He arrived on Thursday night after biking a bit from Christchurch...dumped rain on him just before he got in. We headed to the bars Thursday night and talked about everything from nordic skiing to religion to good ol' Grand Lake memories. I didn't really know James all that well before he dropped by Dunedin...but it never felt that way. I guess some people are just naturally on the same page. We went to a Rugby game on Friday night (a side note about Rugby - rather boring...terrible theme songs for their teams. ha). James and I were both invited to participate in a chugging contest (sorry mom and dad- at least I take a free beer when I see it...your thrifty daughter.) I walked away a winner...and with a $20 bar tab, which was pretty nice seeing as there are so many places to drop money in this country.
On Saturday we headed to the beach...chilled with some friends. Kirstin jammed it out on the guitar. James was kind enough to be my personal surfing coach...holding my board until a good wave would come in. can't say I really got up much after all of that, but the pointers were useful.
James headed out to bike around the South Island Sunday afternoon (crazy!..some people...hehe). It was nice having him around and definitely wierd to see him go, but hey- one more reason I'm looking forward to the CO summer. It's funny how life works like that. Everyone needs to have their adventures, their own adventures. It's not always easy. It's not always comfortable. But the lessons learned are a far greater reward than any safe ride could offer.