before christmas day

tuesday:
it was a rathr long drive from oamaru to alexandra. when i got to that backpacker i basically just checked in and then headed to cromwell where i met up with the boys i chaperoned last june from my exchange organisation. we played golf which was pretty fun. my drive is actually really good, i suck at putting, though... we fooled around with the golf karts as well, which was awesome!!! =) had fish'n'chis and then i headed back to alexandra where i went to bed rather early - exhausted from the day's driving...

wednesday & thursday:
it had been the most horrible night's sleep i have EVER had in my life!!! i was in adorm with 5 sloppy guys. one of them for example was a 60-year-old drunk guy who snoared the whole night through - while i was awake!!! had my earplugs in, though the sound was like a freekin thunderstorm 2 meters from your ears!!! the smell was aweful as well: with all the alcoholics and smokers in the room... the manager, too, was drunk all the time, couldnt string two words together and smelled like hell!!! so you can magine that i was pretty grateful when the boys (flo, chris and elias) came up with the idea of seeing a movie in queenstown... so we ( -I- so proud to say that!!! =)drove to queenstown which is like an hour drive and went to see a movie... borat was our priority, but it wasnt on until later that afternoon so we saw 'the holiday' instead. jack blsck, cameron diaz, kate winslet and jude law. i really liked it... i mean, the ending is completely obvious, but its a nice - probably girlie - movie. it also really got meinto the christmasy mood - which i had not been in before and havent been since. =) cos when we got out of the movies it was the middle of the afternoon and summer. though the weather has been a bit funny. its supposed to be the worst summer ever recorded - NICE. so, yup, had some food later on and then started to mount the track that leads to the gondola station. all of new zealand is so proud of 'the gondola' so you kinda expect something exciting. its just a freekin normal 'gondeli'!!! and we really didnt want to pay 20 dollars for a ride!!! so we walked - it was a pretty hard one, though - very steep!!! but it was definitely worth it!!! the view was stunning, as you can see on the pictures. the remarkables (mountain range, also in lotr) and the lake and all - gorgeous!!! =) had a drink and went down again - this time in the gondola. technically youre supposed to pay 10 dollars for one way, but no one bothers to actually control if you have tickets (at least not at the top)... so saving 10 bucks like that gives you a nice feeling =). wasnt too keen on getting back to the hostel in alexandra. but, yeah, i built a bridge. =) and i got started pretty early in the morning on thursday...

thursday & friday:
when the boys left i stayed in queenstown so i wouldnt have to get back to alexandra again. had a fun evening with the guys from my dorm. regretted it the next morning, though, cos my hangover was pretty bad. so i didnt really do much that day except sleep in and getting some fresh air and going to bed early... =)

saturday:
left queestown to go back to wanaka - yipee!!! the drive was absolutely beautiful, its suposed to be one of the highest passes in nz. gorgeous!!! it was really nice getting back to a place which you already know and where you feel completely comfortable - if not like home!!! =) the wheather was better too. after dinner the managers (raymond, courtney and lee a french girl and me had a huge 'water battle' - whatever the word might be in english. i was soaked - the others dry. nice. had a lovely evening with cool people who are staying at the hostel. todays the 24th so ill make a zopf for tomorrow, christmas day, and since there are other swiss people staying at the wanaka bakpaka we decided to make some mailaenderli as well - devine! =) hmm, thats it. ill post some news after christmas which i think will be really fun. it seems like a different holiday, though, not CHRISTMAS. but since its im not in the christmasy mood, it doesnt feel like im missing out on anything... MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, anyways, SINCE YOU ARE CELEBRATING ON THE 24TH. =)