NZ Day 2 and 3: Exploration

Now that I’ve had a few days to get settled in, we ventured out to see what else New Zealand has to offer. Confused, we managed to get a few things in while still getting a sense of the "local" scene. Here’s a quick look at some of the more memorable items.

Good Day For:

American Music – After hearing nothing but Ri-Ri, Chris Brown, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift thus far on the trip. Whether it’s a gas station, a bar, or a retail shop, I could've honestly be listening to a radio station being streamed out of Central Ohio and wouldn't have known the difference.

Trickery – After C-Note successfully dumped 2 heaps of chili flakes into my food by telling me there was a half naked woman walking by the window.  To make matters worse, when she hadn’t successfully completed her dubious task, she actually got me to turn for a second time.

For the record, there was no half naked woman; and apparently “It was as easy tricking me as it would be tricking her 3-year old niece into believing that Santa Clause was outside.”

American Football – After nearly crapping ourselves when we found the Cowboys @ Redskins game on. 

The most glorious thing to find on a Monday afternoon in a foreign land

C-Note Giving Me Shit – After having an English bartender chant about me being “a piss pot through and through”. WTF is a piss pot? Something for an outhouse??

Bad Day For:

Outdoor Adventure - Despite everything to do from rafting, to bungee jumping, to sky diving, to cliff swinging; we were instead pro-life and chose to (dun da-da daaaaah!)…

Go wine tasting!

Getting a Kiwi Girl - After being told that I could never date in New Zealand because I play sports like golf and tennis. (Because dating a girl on the other side of the planet sounds like a GREAT idea…)

Crackhead Behavior – After searching, sniffing, and scratching high and low for friggin wifi--even going to far as to buy unnecessary meals in order to enjoy 15 strrrrrapping minutes of connectivity.

Drunk, Hungry 18 year olds – After witnessing a mob of children nearly tear the door off of a KFC because the were 1am Drungry.

The Price of Orange Juice – After dropping $4.50 on a single 10oz glass. Thankfully they were kind enough to give me ice with my drink, and I definitely appreciated the full price refill...

Safety – After risking life and limb enjoying a jet boat through the canyons of the Shotover River. Fun? Yes.  Worth the risk? Ehhhhh not sure this would be a cool way to die...

  

Timely Service – So wait staff in restaurants and bars are paid something like $20/hr which means that tipping isn’t a standard custom. The result, however, is zero incentive to hurry to do ANYTHING.  But maybe it’s good to not have bartenders selling dreams of wild sex in the restaurant alley just because they want an extra 10% tip from your tab.

Oh, and the Kiwi consensus is that Cricket is “boring”. All I know is that that stands (on TV at least) look emptier than a div. 1-AAA track meet.