Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story.

I've been taking my melatonin (sleep aid) the past few nights to make sure I get to sleep in a reasonable time (I usually stay awake well past midnight, sometimes as late as 3:00 am, regardless of when I actually go to bed). Something I've noticed about melatonin, you relax, you get to sleep at a decent time, then you wake up wide awake, refreshed, and ready to go... at midnight. So I've been getting to bed on time, but I've been going to sleep two or three times every night before the alarm rings.

Had a weird dream last night too.

Mom, Dad, and Katie were down here, and we were getting ready to board the ferry to the south island, but Katie and I were looking around the town (there isn't really a town around the ferry docks, so I don't know what we were looking at) so the ferry left without us. So we bribed some random fisherman to take us over in his boat (which wouldn't have survived the waters in the channel in real life) On the way we got into a battle with some lizard people that apparently lived under the earths surface. I remember I kept shooting them in the head and they wouldn't die, so I asked them where their brains were.
We got to the south island eventually and continued our battle. The ferry arrived after us, then decided to turn right around given the circumstances (a lot more lizard folk had shown up).
Apparently these lizard people were also shape changers and they turned into these large colorful (like neon green and baby blue) fluffy arachnid things. So we went out of our hiding place (we had holed up inside a gas station) and said that if they'd stop attacking us then we'd stop killing them (we had really only managed to kill two, and I'm not really sure that they were all the way dead, but the fuzzy spiders took it pretty hard). Any way they seemed to agree, then one of them seemed to realize that they now had us surrounded and outnumbered so they started to attack. None of them turned back into lizard which is strange considering spiders are pretty easy to step on. But I started yelling "Oath breaker's" at them, and they apparently have a real big sense of honor, because that really freaked them out and they started running away and crying apologies in their little hissy spider voices. So they all loaded up onto a bus to go away, and one of the guys that was bunkered down in the gas station with us was trying to convince his mother in law that she was a lizard person and should get on the bus with them.

Weekend Wanderings

I spent pretty much all of yesterday on a hike with Line (Greenlandic exchange student) down to a lighthouse at the lower tip of the north island. You could see some huge mountains on the south island from there, it was pretty cool. I had to convince her at one point that English cultures could be pretty anal about private property (she wanted to walk back over the hilltops instead of along the path). That ticked her off "How can they own the hills? That's so egotistical" (Actually she said egostical but I knew what she meant)
On the bus ride back we randomly ran into Eeva (Finland) and Esther (Brazil) on their way back from Eeastbourne. We got talking and at one point some lady across from us who turned out to be from Whales asked where we were from. Then some other lady jumped into the conversation. She couldn't see me because I was behind Line so she kept referring to us as "you girls", I didn't bother to correct her lest I should actually have to talk to her. Eventually those two forgot about us and talked amongst themselves whilst we all shot awkward glances at each other until our stop.
I also got new curtains for my room this weekend. They make it less bone chillingly cold at night, and they're thick enough that I can black out the window during the day if I want.

Weather Rock (If it's warm it's sunny, if it's wet...)

Yesterday was beautiful sunny and pristine. The night before it rained, but most of that day was sunny with some clouds. Before that we had two full days of glorious sunlight, not a cloud in the sky. Four days of sun. Broken up by a little rain, but the quality of the sun on those days far outweighs the rain. Four days of beautiful sunlight. Four days like this do not come without a price. Today was that price. It didn't just rain, no, that would be too simple. First it started off like another warm sunny day so you didn't even bother to think about bringing an umbrella or a raincoat, then BAM! Somewhere around second spell the rain started falling with a vengeance. Three seconds out in that would soak you to the core. Guess how far away the bus stop is? Not very. Guess how much that mattered? Not at all. There's only so wet you can get before jumping in a pool might actually be a method to dry off.

This one's for you Mr. Bowe

For those of you who don't know, Mr. Bowe is my next door neighbor, and since before I left for New Zealand he's been asking me to find out about Red Stags. Well I found one mounted on the wall visiting a friend of Neville and Sian's who owns a pig farm in the hills. Her husband is a big hunter apparently, and they said if Mr. Bowe ever happened to be in New Zealand they'd be glad to take him hunting. (They asked if he was more interested in shooting one with a camera or a gun, I said "probably a gun")
Random fact: One of the pigs was named Ben, he was one of the three big boars. Apparently he's generally easygoing and laid back, but the other pigs were harassing him so he head butted them off a rather steep hill.

South island pics part one

I know you guy's have been waiting for this for so long that you probably forgot you were waiting for it. Here is the first half of photo's I took on my trip to the south island.