If you want to come over tonight that's fine because I have no plans

Now this is the part of the story where I talk about the Week I Spent With People I Know. It's fun and all to make friends in hostels, but what is SUPER fun is if you can locate people you already know and travel with them. So! Post-Franz Josef Walk of Death, I departed Franz Josef to go back the way I came, towards Arthurs Pass. But first, I walked out front to wait for my bus, which was conveniently picking me up from my hostel, god bless Atomic Shuttles, and I ran into my former flatmate Jimmy! What are the odds. Actually, no, it was totally crazy, because I think I see people I know all the time (mostly Liana) but this time it actually WAS that person! It was nuts! Also, I should mention that we are on Saturday, the 21^st of March and it begins the week I spent with people I knew. It was really cool, actually, to just hang out with friends and not have to play getting-to-know-you. So I ran into Jimmy and we exclaimed about how exciting it was and then we chatted about where he'd been and where he was going. He was still traveling with Tom, but unfortunately Tom was still sleeping. So then my bus arrived because I wasn't out there THAT early and we said our farewells. It was pretty awesome, and then I texted Kira and she was all, “That's great, but when are you coming to Queenstown?” Difficult, as I was now heading in the opposite direction: back to Arthurs Pass! So I got there, met up with Sabina, and we had a bit of a wander. Checked out the Department of Conservation iSite to get info on what walks to do there and where to camp. Then we were going to go do the Devils Punchbowl Falls track, but that wound up being “Sitting in this restaurant eating fries and catching up.” Classy. So then we went back out into the car and I saw a blur of green and orange and I was like, “Was that a kea? Did you just see a kea?” referring, of course, to New Zealand's native parrot, the world's only alpine parrot. So then I grabbed the Arthurs Pass guide we'd purchased and I found a picture of a kea in flight, all green top-feathers and orange under-wing and I was like, “This! This! I just saw this!” Sabina thought I was crazy. Possibly because then I jumped out of the car and pointed excitedly at a bobbing tree branch. ....Jumping up and down. It was my first kea, you guys! Don't judge, they're really cute and they're attention-seekers and they steal stuff if you leave it out. They're smart! So eventually Sabina got me back in the car and then we camped! It was....camping! Well, we slept in the car and stuff, but the car was in the woods and there were various woods-activities and it was...charming. Truly, I was charmed. For that day. Like, drinking coffee in the sun-drenched valley was pretty awesome. So then we packed up and went into town to do the Bealey Valley Track. Most people do Avalanche Peak in Arthurs Pass, but Sabina had just done the Mueller Hut track and I'd just done Franz, so we were both not up for a 6-hour mountain hike. So we went out there on a non-mountainous, 3-4 hour hike. It was crazy, because you enter the woods and it's this total fairy wonderland. Green, green moss and ancient-looking trees, and probably gnomes or something. Awesome. So we walked a bit and sidetracked to this stream with a waterfall, where I hopped out on some rocks to the middle of the stream. Because sometimes being an adult is exactly like you thought it would be when you were a kid, and no one can stop you climbing out into the middle of the stream on rocks. Then we headed across a thoroughly charming bridge over to more woodland areas. And then we came out into this valley where you could see one of the peaks (Avalanche peak? One of the glaciers around there? Who knows) and it was very valley-y. Like the kind of smooth grass in that scene in Bambi where all the woodland creatures are running through the field. You know, with the hunters. Only it was death-free, so far as I know. Then back into another wooded dreamworld, and then out into what I think was the actual Bealey Valley. There was a bit of a stream rolling through and tons of fallen rocks that you hiked on. So we climbed on those for a while, which was sometimes easier said than done and occasionally we took different tracks and I was usually proved to have made things too difficult for myself. Then eventually we got to this sign that was like, “Beware! Falling Rocks! Do not cross!” and we were like, “Does that mean it's the end of the trail?” We walked a little further, like you do, but couldn't see anymore orange trail-markers, so we went back to the big rocks we had taken pictures on and ate a little lunch. Then we headed back the way we came and I attempted to capture on film the eerie fairytale-type woods. Also we could see this awesome waterfall from far away and we wondered if it was the Devils Punchbowl Falls, but we couldn't tell. Then we stopped for coffee and a break, then went on the Falls track. Oh, and I spotted another kea – on the ground this time – and may or may not have followed it for like 100 meters with my camera out. This track was really easy and really gorgeous, only there is a lot of upward-climbing. I think you could actually combine the Falls track and the Valley track that we did with another trail, but that might've been a little much. So we went up and up and up some stairs until we got to a pretty stunning waterfall, and I took about 5 billion pictures that I later deleted like 4,999,999,990 of when I needed the space in Milford Sound. But then it was impressive. Although my still-recovering body was not crazy about the stairs and there was a lot of hopping.

So then that night I once more ran into Jimmy, which is kind of crazy. Twice in as many days and I hadn't seen him since he moved out in January. So then he led us to Tom and we had a joyous reunion. Also, they were traveling with this girl Isabelle, who I actually also knew. She was, like, the first person I met in New Zealand. We arrived on the same day and had the same room in Auckland. It's a small, small country. So we had dinner there and hung out for a while. And then we began to discuss “tomorrow” and how Sabina was heading to Kaikoura, but I pretty much had no clue where to go now, since I'd interrupted the old itinerary. When Sabina and I first planned to meet, she'd texted our mutual friend Helen and then Helen had texted me and I knew that Helen was going to be in Dunedin on Tuesday. So I was thinking of heading down there. Tom told me that Oamaru was lovely and filled with wildlife, and he told me not to miss it. So I planned it in. I then had a lovely, lovely shower (seriously, the van-sleeping is charming for like one night) and we went to bed.

In the morning, I woke up the boys to say goodbye, then woke them up again to push-start Sabina's car. Then she drove me to Amberley, with a quick stop in Springfield to take a picture of the giant Simpsons Donut that they put up for the premiere of The Simpsons Movie. Oh, New Zealand, you so cute. Then I got a bus from Amberley to Christchurch, hung out in Cathedral Square for 2 hours, then caught a bus from Chch to Oamaru. Got in way too late, and hungry, and irritated (and I didn't even KNOW that the late hour would cause me to miss the penguins coming in at night!). Checked in to the Empire Hotel and was informed that my dorm was empty but for me, was that ok? Only amazing. So I had my own room! Naturally it took me like 10 minutes to decide which bed I wanted to sleep in. Then I ate and then I watched High Fidelity and then I went to bed. Exciting! I had all of the next day because my bus to Dunedin was late. So I hopped up and got coffee and then took a walk out to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. I took a tour of it, which was kind of a waste although I learned about the Penguin Colony and I tried to suck up to the guide, but she still wouldn't let me touch a penguin. So then I was pointed towards this totally awesome cliff walk. They were like, “It says the trail is closed, but you'll be fine.” So I went on a cliff walk and I saw a shag. Actually, I saw two shags. They were not shagging though. Actually they were like fighting for the same rock, which I thought was kind of crappy. I mean, there are tons of rocks, you don't need to LITERALLY bite that other shag's head (not off) until he flies away. Don't piss off a shag, you guys, they're crazy.

So I walked on this cliff walk until I got to a beach! Exciting! I was hoping for some seals, but no go. I couldn't really see the end of the beach, though, so I looked for an easy route off of the big boulder I was on and onto the beach. And then I noticed the giant seal right next to me. Remember that thing about not getting between a seal and the ocean? Yeah, I did not want to cross this seal (literally or figuratively), so I kind of just sat next to him for a while and talked about the weather. Well, not really. But once I sat down he was all, “Be cool” and we were fine. After a while, I left and headed back up the cliffs. Then I was lost in the woods for a while, because I misread where I was on the map. I did manage to find my way to the top of the hill, though, and from there I could access some residential streets and from there I could get to Bushy Beach Road. Which was sort of boring, only kind of fun because all the sheep like stop their grazing to stare at you while you walk by. It's like they've never seen an ipod before or something. Sheep. Anyway, got to the end of the road and there was, in fact, a beach. Featured here is the yellow-eyed penguin colony, and also Tom said there were loads of seals. So I headed down to the beach to wander. And there were, in fact, loads of seals. The seal-novelty was kind of wearing off, though, because these guys were not interesting. One of them was flapping his flippers in the air while he sat there, that was cute. Then, up ahead there was one frolicking. So I wanted to check out the frolicking! Duh. So I headed down, but as I got closer, he frolicked his way into the ocean. But then I noticed a dark spot on the beach and I realised that it was A PENGUIN!!! These guys are way more exciting when you see them in the wild, and not in the colony box. But still. So this was a blue penguin, the smallest and cutest of all the penguins. I was thrilled. I sat near him for a while, hoping he would not run away, even though I kind of wanted to see him waddle. But then I thought that he wouldn't waddle towards me, and he might waddle into the ocean if I scared him, and I know from my extensive penguin research (that one time I saw March of the Penguins) that seals eat penguins and I did not want this little guy to be seal food. Also, Dad, you don't need to check your postcard, I totally reused that March of the Penguins joke. It's really good, OK? It makes me happy. Stop judging me. Anyway, after I while I went back into town and had dinner and wrote a bunch of adorable penguin postcards that many people have already gotten and then my bus showed up.

I'm torn now on whether to end on Oamaru, or to finish the day. To finish the day! Hopped a bus to Dunedin, caught a taxi from the railway station to the hostel (Helen had warned me that the hostel was very, very uphill and therefore I might not want to carry all my stuff there, and also I arrived at 9pm in a strange town with no real idea of where I was. So, yeah, taxi), and got into my room. Then I texted Helen all, “Here I am, where are you?” and then the door across the hall flew open and she came out of the TV room. It was a joyous reunion. Then we stayed up way too late chatting, and then we talked to the Canadian girl and guy of non-remembered nationality who were also in our room before we went to bed.

So Helen was spending like 5 days in Dunedin, which was kind of a lot for me, but Helen is pretty cool so I did it anyway. We also ran into Joe, who I had worked with in Taupo, but that was before Helen's time there. So that was crazy. We did a Cadbury World tour, which was about as awesome as it sounds. You get a hairnet and they give you all sorts of free candy and they take you through the factory and EVERYTHING SMELLS SO GOOD. My god. BVS went on this, too, and he got crappy candy, so I will share what we got: Chocolate Fish (pink marshmallow covered in chocolate. It's like really iconic Kiwi candy, apparently. Doesn't make it less gross), a mini Dairy Milk (this was just me, for saying I liked the cacao bean we tried), a couple of mini Crunchies (this is a honey-thing surrounded by chocolate, and it seems like it's going to be gross, and it kind of is if you have a lot. So a mini is a good size), a full-sized Moro Bar (picture a Milky Way, only really, really awesome), and that might be it. I feel like there was more, but I ate some during the tour, too. HUMAN. Oh my god, you guys, the smell in that place. Heaven. And then the store had cheap, cheap chocolate, so I bought a Duos bar, which is Dairy Milk and dark chocolate and it's awesome. I love me a Carmello, but the Duos are pretty amazing, too. Oh! And I purchased this adorable thing that I left at home when I visited because I love it. I put it on the little picture board in my room if you want to go see it. It is this little magnetic skunk with a cadbury bow on it and it is SO SOFT. You can put the magnets on so that they wrap around your finger and then you can rub its soft, soft little face and it makes you feel happy to be alive. Go try it. I played with this thing for days, ask Helen. It never got less cute.

What else did we do. We did a Speights Tour! I'd already done the Monteiths Tour, but the Speights tour was a better tour. They take you through these decorated rooms and sometimes there are mannequins and they sometimes have recorded lines and it's so Disney and great. Well, crappy Disney. Like Hall of Presidents awesome, only not boring. We also met up with our friend Bridget, who's going to uni out in Dunedin. And on Cadbury day, I came into the TV room and these 2 girls were watching House Season 4 and they had been since like 11am and I watched with them for the rest of the night. Only I couldn't watch the last episode of that season because it makes me cry. And we were there for the start of the Fringe Festival which is this performance art festival with bands and dancers and comedians and singers and artists and sword-swallowers. It was fun to wander around during opening day, even if we were leaving before it really got in full swing.

Dunedin was really fun, but it doesn't have as many great stories, I think. There was a lot more relaxing and wandering around town. Pleasant, though. Actually, I think Dunedin's a really cool city, if you ever get yourself out to New Zealand. Highly recommended.

So I said goodbye to Helen and then I met Kira for breakfast before my bus to Wanaka, as she was getting into Dunedin as I was leaving. This was pretty sad, and actually we'll see a repeat of the "Our trip actually overlaps, but due to lapses in technology we don't know this until almost too late and then we spend about an hour together before one of us leaves" storyline when I hit Picton with Ben, but that's a long way off for now.