My Soul Vacation

Its been awhile since I've a perspective and it feels good to finally have a sense of it.

In fact, its time to get my act together. (A little late, but better late than never) My lil soul vacation to the South helped quite a bit - it was simple yet soulful.

Basically, a breadcramp trail of our short backpacking trip is as follows:

Auckland > Christchurch > Hanmer Springs > Christchurch > Kaikora > Christchurch > Auckland

I was dissing Hanmer Springs throughout because of these few reasons which made me feel strikingly retarded:
1) We paid $59 for transportation costs (I find it exorbitant)
2) It was the Easter holidays (Quote random kiwi girl: I've never seen so many people in New Zealand before)!
3) Our objective was to soak in the warm thermal pools, in the middle of nature's beauty - it looks serene and tranquil in the brochures. Fact is, it was a children's playground during the hols with so much noise pollution you wonder what good is a kid for. I also got reminded of the quiet, clean and much warmer jacuzzi (with massaging effect) available for free just a couple of minutes away from my apartment - I forgo that, took a plane AND 3 hour bus ride AND paid $14 to this noisy, blistering cold and dirty place (Some hot pretty mom made her cute kid wear diapers in the pool, how is that not disgusting!?)!?
Unwilling to let that dampen my mood, I told PY - its not that bad actually. Imagine if we were here during the off-peak season, without all these children, the pools would be cleaner, it would be quiet, maybe the trees would be covered with snow, its actually quite a sight! Yup, just imagine that. So we did, and smiled to ourselves as we continued soaking in that dubious sulphur pool for the next couple of hours.

Since both of us secretly knew that our thermal pool experience wasn't exactly a success but did not want to blurt that out to spoil the anticipation of a great getaway, we somewhat came to a consensus that we would go for a trek. I wonder if both of us actually conceded that a trek would guarantee a better experience? Anyway, we felt horridly tired (I don't know from what, we just ate and soak in the pool for the day) and slept at 7pm till 8plus am (Thats what I mean by an awesome soul vacation!)

Digressing, a short anecdote. We were preparing breakfast. When it was ready and served, PY brought along 2 cups of hot tea. I wondered to myself, where did she get that? I'm pretty sure I didn't see free tea bags on the counter. But oh come on, you don't think much when you are on a holiday - when there is food, you eat. When there are drinks, you drink. When there are activities, you play. So I drank. Soon, the kitchen was cleared off people leaving us sipping our hot tea. PY turned over and turned back with a changed expression. 'OMG I STOLE SOMEONE'S TEA!!!!' Yes, she stole someone's tea. In fact, it wasn't even stealing - she blatantly took it in front of the owner's eyes. Apparently, the tea and sugar was neatly chucked to the side of the counter, inducing her to assume that it was provided by the hostel. After waiting for the true owner to finish using it, she openly took it. She still had the audacity to be sniffing through their stuff, wondering if hot chocolate or tea would be a better drink for the morning. What can I say? The owner is just so lovely to share their drinks with us, without us asking nor them questioning.

Anyway, whenever we act in a foolish manner, I'll jokingly say, 'You see, now they (the caucasians) are whispering: stupid Asians'
And I said that countless times during the trip. I.e. during the occasion where we tried to sneak sandwich bags from the kitchen thus acting suspiciously for a few minutes till we realise that there was a camera and how ridiculous we looked. 'Stupid kiasu Asians' I said, not blaming why we might be labelled the way we are by them.

Oh no, I feel so lazy to continue typing, so I shall just post some photos with captions!
We went for a trek and got lost after which. We had to run like mad women back (with my injured knee) to our hostel, grab our bags and run to the bus stop - we barely made it to the bus back to Christchurch.
I got sick and took a day off to rest in the backpackers.
Cathedral Square at Christchurch
Awww....


I AM A NATURAL FISHER-WOMAN!!!
Seriously, I never thought fishing can be THAT awesome. One of those days which I felt really happy, carefree and burdenless =)