Mapua!! aka food heaven (and a few other updates)

Well a lot has happened in the last few weeks, but I've been too lazy to share it all with you...until now! So I suppose I'll start at the beginning.

After my last final (geology, gross), we took a trip to Stewart Island! We spent a little over a week there, and it was super fun! Though I can very definitely say I never want to go that long without showering again. Or tramp through that much mud ever again.

When I still thought the mud was amusing enough to take a picture

There was a lot of mud. It got everywhere. And was partly responsible for a minor meltdown on the trail our second day tramping. That and having to tramp down a stream bed and falling and getting a gross bruise. But I persevered! And when we came back to that same stretch I finished it faster and I wasn't the last person finished in our group and the conditions were even worse!! So all in all a good tramp!

And I almost forgot, I saw three different kiwis! The birds, not the people. They are so adorable! And kind of blind and stupid. One literally almost ran into me, I thought I was gonna get stabbed by a kiwi beak! Thankfully I didn't. 

So after Stewart Island, we got back and had our big Thanksgiving celebration! It featured chicken (turkey was too expensive), gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes (with marshmallows!), mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, rosemary focaccia, custard pie and apple pie. Since there were only three Americans around (me, Sara, and Michele), we invited some international friends! Two Brits, two Aussies, two Germans, and a Kiwi (the person type this time) all got to have their first Thanksgiving!

full plate club

So after all that excitement, I took it pretty easy for awhile. Then Sara left, so I cried a lot. Then I packed everything up, did a ton of cleaning, and got on a bus!

A big coach bus going to Christchurch to be exact! Why you might ask? Because I had to go to Mapua for my summer work exchange I might answer!

I got a work exchange job at the Playhouse Cafe, in Mapua! Basically, I get a place to sleep and three meals a day in exchange for working about 5 hours everyday. The best part is that the three meals I get are all amazing top notch quality. I'd say it's like eating at a fancy restaurant for every meal, but it's not "like" it "is". If that makes sense? 

So yeah, gourmet meals three times a day. AWESOME. I love my life. So much right now. 

But back to getting here. It was a two day journey! So as I mentioned, I went to Christchurch first. Then I stayed overnight at Around the World Hostel, and I'm telling you the name because if you're ever in Christchurch, that's where you should stay! Everyone was super chill and nice, and it was a really nice place! So then the next I woke up waaaayyyy early (5am), got ready, had some breakfast, and went to the bus stop to catch my bus to Nelson! So I sat on that bus for awhile, until we got to Blenheim, where I switched buses. Which involved waiting outside in the cold and thinking "*&%* I should have worn pants, I thought it was supposed to be warm in the northern area!" But no worries, after I got on that bus and we drove over some mountains it warmed right up and got ridiculously sunny. The Nelson area is actually the sunniest in New Zealand! 

So once in Nelson, I caught another bus that took me to Mapua! There two of my co-workers met me, and we went to the Playhouse! I'll be mostly doing waitressing and behind the bar stuff, and it's been going pretty well so far! No broken glasses yet!

But by far the most stressful part of working here so far was when we ran out of wine. And I got sent to Richmond to pick up some more. What I'm trying to say is, I drove in New Zealand! It was terrifying!! I've never said the word "left!" so many times to myself in my life before! But I made it without any accidents, and only a minor getting lost incident on the way back, and plenty of wine!

And then I did some stress eating since it was dinner time. SUCH GOOD FOOD!