Christian Perez's Travel Journal

My car is powered by hydrogen fusion., Tue Aug 1, 2006

So we must have put a thousand km on the car since we left Christchurch. We left on Sunday around noon and drove for 6 hours. We arrived in Queenstown about an hour and a half faster than is typical. It's probably the fastest the car has ever been driven.

Ever.

But we made it around to Milford Sound and back already. It's been a good time so far, and I am officially the poorest I have ever been in my life. But hey, that's money for you: As soon as its in your pocket, a woman tricks you into buying her things, or you lose your wallet, or you get hungry and buy a lot of muffins. We ate 12 yesterday. Muffins, I mean.

Anyway, we had a quiet first night in Queenstown. Ben hit the sack early and I stayed up and chatted to our Belgian roommie. She had a really cute accent, and was studying stage theatre and was really animated when she told stories. Her name is An. That's right, only two letters. Like Ann, but An. She wants to be a stand-up comic. I told her she should go for it; I wouldn't try it even if Hitler was threatening me with a red hot poker and a handful of lemons. Oooo, lemon juice on burns! Stings just thinking about it!

We took it easy the next day and drove 2 hours south to Te Anau so we could get up early and take a scenic cruise in Milford Sound. We go to check into this backpacker, and this woman is giving me grief about my membership card or something being expired. I told her I just got here so it can't be expired; the date on the card was written down wrong. So I start to pull out my passport to show her that I just got here, and I'm really irritated at being doubted like this, and I get Ben's passport out first because I'm holding on to it for him. (A terrible idea, I've lost almost everything important to me in the last two months.) She says its illegal for me to carry someone else's passport. What?!

"Well, whatever, I'm from the States and I'll carry my mate's passport if I want to."

"But your in New Zealand now, and you have to do it the way we do it."

"...you know what, forget you. Gimme my card back."

"But I was just kidding with you..."

"Oh right...not funny. (Putting stuff in my wallet.) You know what would be real funny? If you jumped in the lake. Later!"

We found another backpacker and got a twin room. I thought we'd have the kitchen and tv to ourselves... The place was packed with girls again! Some exchange students from Oz and a Norwegian girl and a bunch of others were crowding the place for a few weeks. We can't get a break. It's a lot of work making these girls fall for us all the time. I need some "me" time, ya know? Where I can concentrate on my needs...

Hahaha...

Milford Sound was brilliant. Excellent pictures, tons of them, I swear, and we're in them, too! It's hard not to take a good pic in that place. We made it there in record time, of course, and afterwards sped back towards queenstown where we stayed last night. The pain of emptiness inside my wallet has finally gotten to me, so we slept in the car last night. It was ok, except we both woke up with wicked sore throats. I think we slept with our heads at odd angles and breathed through our mouths all night.

At least we got to watch a snowboarding grind competition in the middle of town. There was even an Animal House-style snowball fight at the end of it. Ben nailed some chick in the butt as she was running past him. I laughed, she gave him the evil eye, and then threw a snowball at him as I held him for her, still laughing. What are friends for?