The week after the semester break was full of attempts to do homework and listening to stories from friends. There is so much to do here and everyone I talked to did something adventurous! Last weekend my flatmates and I found our favorite bar in Dunedin. It's been getting colder here, and this place has live music with fireplaces in one room, an outdoor hangout spot, plus another club-ish room with a DJ. Soo wonderful. And between South Bar and the library we will stay warm this winter. The rest of last weekend included the farmer's market, a wine and cheese party at our place, and a night of "Pulp Fiction".
Last week I did a lot of reading and researching so I would be free for another great weekend...which it proved to be. Thursday night I had a communal dinner with Rachel, Holly, and Alan and we played Scrabble before it got cold and we went to South Bar. Friday night we stayed in to prepare for our girl's overnight hike on Saturday! Holly, Andee, Michelle, Rachel, and I drove 25 minutes to the trail head and hiked the Silverpeaks all day yesterday to get to the Jubilee Hut. This hike included what is locally known as the "Devil's Staircase" and is suitable for "Experienced trampers only". So of course we continued on!!!
Come to find out, the Staircase is not as clear cut as it sounds. At all. It started out with heaps of mud. We then bush-whacked our way down a really steep cliff full of gorse (super sharp prickly hellish bushes) like it was no big deal. Rachel and I were leading and got us a little off-track as there were no trail markers and only slightly matted down grass and bush to follow. But we got back on (after sacrificing our previously flawless legs) and made it to the Jubilee Hut successfully! I led the girls in a yoga session, which felt oh so good, and then it was time for dinner. Woops, Rachel and I left the potatoes I made in the fridge at our flat, so a can of beans and a half an apple it was. Haha. The others shared a bit and we fell asleep at 9ish after a few hands of cards and journal writing.
Day Two of the girlie adventure turned out to be perfect weather as well. With the icy ground, the mud wasn't too bad, and going up Devil's Staircase was so much more fun than going up. At points we were pretty much rock climbing. Only a few slips from the group, but no bad spills, so that was good. The ridgeline we were following gave views of Dundedin in the distance, surrounding mountains in the Otago region, and the Pacific Ocean of course. The trail we were on will not be doable in a few weeks with snow and colder weather on its way...and rain would have been impossible as well...so pretty much we were really lucky with the conditions we were given =) We got to know each other better and had so many laughs along the way. We proved some of the doubtful neighbor boys wrong and had fun doing it!
I booked a flight to Wellington during my last week here and will be doing another weekend get-away with some girls next weekend. Must get to work in order to be able to play =)
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