LOYAL, BROKE, AND HAPPY.

i have a loyal customer card for this internet place
every time that i spend more than three dollars here (over 20mins) i get a stamp
very soon, i will get ONE FREE HOUR OF INTERNET
woot woot
good thing that i am so loyal

travelling alone is not nearly as awful as i thought it would be...

although, apparently nicole was a vital factor in me managing to maintain my daily spending budget. because, somehow, over the past week, i haven't bought ANY groceries (i am surviving of toast - which expired two days ago, but hasn't yet moulded -, plain oatmeal - which is disgusting -, and the generosity of my new friends in christchurch - who i already owe big time), i haven't travelled much (only about six hours in the car - so only a tank and a half of petrol), i've been staying at really cheep places, AND I HAVE BEEN OVER BUDGET EVERY DAY!?!?!?!?!? i can't handle not having nicole here to be like "don't spend money on that,spend money on this", "buy coffee now, make your own lunch today", etc
without her, i don't eat, i just buy funny hats that i don't need.

though... in my defense... it is the coolest hat in the world.

anyways, i'll start from where i left off:
after i left Mim in blenheim, i headed south towards christchurch
and by the time i got to kaikoura, i was pretty tired

so i stopped there for a night
and played some crazy card games with two americans and a kiwi
...it was pretty nice to bust out some serious Napolean Dynamite jokes after four months of completely Pedro-free living (ND is apparently a very north-american thing, since nobody else that we have met here really knows what it is. or they do but they are like "oooh yeeah... that movie.... was it supposed to be funny?")

then, on their suggestion (the americans and the kiwi. not Napolean and Pedro.), i went to Akaroa for two nights (and sortof got lost in christchurch on my way there - HOLY BIG CITY).
and it was pretty much the cutests little town in the world
AND I SAW DOPHINS! YEEEAH!!! for the first time ever not in the West Ed mall! i went a cruising thing and we saw penguins (swimming penguins! not just waddling penguins) and dolphins and sea lions. very cool.
then i went to see a movie at the cinema ALL BY MYSELF! (how mature am i?) and it was weird cause i was actually the only person there... good movie though - called "Notes on a Scandal" very intense

then i came to christchurch on friday. and i didn't get lost at all on my way in to town. and i went about plastering up car posters and chatting with strangers and checking out markets and galleries and museums and just generally being independent and snazzy and wearing my new hat. and i ate a falafel (which my mom has always been trying to peer-pressure me into eating, but i never gave in... until yesterday ... and lo and behold: mom is right again. falafels are yummy... and the only veggie option on the market menu, apparently)
and also, in line for the falafels, i met a canadian girl and her german friend and we went to the botanical gardens to explore, and then to see a movie called "The Lives of Others" which has german subtitles and is therefore extremely confusing but was SO AWESOME. so obviously, mom was double right: falafels aren't just yummy - they also get you new friends, and educational german entertainment.

then this morning i took my car to a car fair and I SOLD IT! woot woot!
i got ripped off in an awful way, BUT I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT ANYMORE!
...and also i feel very homeless and like my best friend just sailed to japan or something. i miss her. oh me oh my. BUT I AM SO RELIEVED. i am no longer a car owner. i will, however, be spending the next month and a half sitting in a cardboard box somewhere in australia. Cause i didn't get enough money from the car sale to actually really travel around there. oh well. win some, lose some. it was totally worth it. i don't regret buying a car at all (despite the pain in the neck that it all was)... it was, by far, the absolute best way to see this country.

anyways
now i am just bummin around with nothin to do and thoroughly enjoying myself and looking forward to Thursday when ANDY IS COMMIN TO CHRISTCHURCH! hooray!
and i can see buskers out the window, in cathedral square. and they are on tall unicycles. and they have big green juggly things. and there is obviously a HUGE hilarious fall potential factor. so i must go. definetly don't wanna miss this.

ciao