She's a Single Seattlite Surviving South Island

Okay boys and girls we continue on with the saga of V surviving her time in New Zealand. I had to get out of Wellington for a bit due to the crazy nightlife and the shear abundance of beautiful international guys (many of whom I had already snogged). So, EG #2 (English Girl #2) offered to travel around the South Island for a few weeks with me in a camper van! Hurrah! South Island here we come!
Our trip starts with a ferry ride early in the morning (okay it was 9 am but that is really early to us). Being the fun loving and non planning chicks that we are, we quite literally missed the boat. That's right, we got to the dock only to see the ferry sailing off! Did we cry, slump down and whine? No! We checked our bags and booked the 2 pm sailing. Right, day one and we are still stuck in Wellington with almost a whole day to kill!
We started with the most sensible idea....breakfast! But not just breakfast......BREAKFAST (bacon, banana pancakes and salmon eggs Benedict to be exact)! Right, sorted. Now onto killing a whole day. Now, bear in mind that I have had a total of 2 hours sleep due to partying and last minute packing! We decided to go to the art gallery and see Fiona Hall's exhibit! Great, this is so my thing and I was very excited to see her innovative work. The exhibit was phenomenal and I was blown away by her imagination and her socio-political statements through her art. Then we sat on a bench for a minute. I promptly curled up and went into such a deep sleep that I was disorientated when I woke up 15 minutes later and thought I was back at the hostel. Whoops! Okay, started walking around the exhibit again and then there was another much more comfy couch beckoning to me. Sat down and pretended to be watching a tv program on the artist. Woke up 1/2 hour later to EG #2 shaking me awake and two Kiwi women saying "Is she deed?" Had to assure EG#2 that I really do love art and galleries but was just utterly sleep deprived! Had to find a Starbucks then off to the catch our ferry!
The ferry crossing was nice though 3 hours long and dumped us off in the tiny town of Picton. Now, I am told during the summer it is a diving destination and quite booming. I can safely say during the Winter it is dead! We stayed at a weird hostel where the room was so freezing I slept inside my sleeping bag with my coat on all night! Also had a couple bizarre encounters with the locals at night! We were a bit worried we would disappear and end up as someones lampshade. But morning dawned and we were frozen but alive! Right, decided we would hitchhike to Christchurch (a mere 6 hours away and the pick up point of our camper van).
We gathered our belongings, made a sign and stood where we thought people would be heading towards Christchurch. Within 10 minutes a jeep stopped to pick us up! Hurrah! We excitedly threw our stuff into the jeep and hopped up. Our host promptly put the jeep in gear and then informed us she was only going 1/2 hour down the road but to a bigger town where we'd have a better chance of getting a ride to Christchurch. Great! Then she proceeded to speed away as she apologized for the jeep smelling like a brewery because she had been partying all night ! :( EG #2 rather politely asked if our host was still drunk at the moment. She assured us she was sober but continued on asking weird questions and then made several comments about how we would have an easier time than her hitchhiking because we were "nice white girls" (our host was Maori). Luckily we arrived in Blenheim intact and on the main highway to Christchurch. This time we decided to look for non drunk drivers. Again were picked up within 10 minutes this time by a lovely German couple, driven 1/2 way, then taken straight into Christchurch by a funny Kiwi couple. Thus ended our hitchhiking adventure!
Christchurch is considered the most English of all the New Zealand cities. It is built around an absolutely beautiful cathedral! Our hostel was directly across from the Cathedral and just so happened to be where HA (Hot Argentinean from previous blogs) was working! Yeah, this is purely a coincidence if you think the definition of coincidence is that I arranged for us to stay at this particular hostel and emailed back and forth with HA to arrange to meet for cocktails :)
So, EG #2 and I checked in late that night and then went out with our roommate (a lovely Irish fellow with gorgeous eyes) for a bit of merriment. The next morning I woke up early to look ravishing because I knew HA could bump into me at any moment. Finally the meeting took place! Such mixed emotions! Here was HA, a great guy that was shy, sweet, intelligent, well educated, funny and good looking that I had an amazing time with back in Wellington. However, I was still feeling the lingering effects of HI (hot Indian from previous blogs). Very confused! Arranged to meet HA for drinks and then explored Christchurch with EG#2 and meet a lovely older gentleman named George who gave us a wonderful tour of the cathedral filled with interesting little tidbits (like why they kept the swastika symbols up on their mosaic after WW II).
Night falls and we are due to meet HA! Now, I had planned to get ready and look even hotter than he had seen me before, complete with a whole wardrobe change, but in his excitement, HA met us early! GaaaahhH! So, whilst EG#2 left us to go get ready I was alone with HA to try and catch up and get a handle on my feelings. After the first bit of awkwardness, it became the same easy friendship of earlier days (with the aid of drinks, juggling and a paper, rock, scissor tournament). We end up going to another pub and playing several games of pool (which I was good at for the first time in my life)! Then we were met by his friend (who I will refer to as CA). Now it was two guys and two girls, only EG#2 a) is really cute b) has a boyfriend c) found CA to be wholly unattractive and slightly on the creepy side. Of course the boys invited us back to their place for more drinks and partying and me being the good friend that I am, accepted for the both of us :)
After more alcohol, a few spots (don't ask) and lots of CookieTime Cookies, I had to make a decision. Would I go there romantically with HA? Or go back home wondering if there was anything still there? We decided to spend the night, since it was so late. Here was another problem. CA's father was staying so his room was occupied leaving him sleeping on the pull out couch. Now, I saw how he was eyeing EG#2 all night and was concerned for her since I knew it was not reciprocated. Thus I decided both she and I would stay in HA's room for the night. Okay, that was before I realized he had a tiny bed (I swear in Wellington he had a glorious one). EG#2 said, "I'm sleeping on the floor!" Felt bad for a moment but then snuggled and sort of forgot about her. After a few moments she flew up from the floor and announced, "I am not Willy!" (a long story from Wellington that I may tell you at some point) and ran into the living room to curl up on a chair. I swear I was only cuddling and kissing but apparently she got the wrong impression and thought we were going to have sex whilst she lay nearby on the floor! Really! What sort of girl does she think I am?!
So, poor EG#2 spends the night curled up on an armchair with one eye open watching CA as he is trying to convince her to share his bed. She said he kept sitting up and patting the bed, saying, "come on, my clothes are on, just come into my bed." I think she was slightly traumatized by the experience. I, however, slept cuddled in the arms of HA and woke in the morning refreshed but even more confused than previously! Said goodbye to HA, pulled EG#2 out of the fetal position and ran back to the hostel to clear my head. Decided that it was lovely but really needed to get out of Christchurch! Texted HA and told him we were heading to Queenstown and it was lovely to have seen him! Grabbed our camper van and we hit the road!