Still rockin Wanaka

It's Thursday here, today has been a pretty chill day. I walked around town for quite a bit and read by the lake. I was out until 3am last night... exactly what I said I wasn't going to do, be out late. Rob, US-Holland, and I met a Kiwi named Dean and he ended up taking us all around town (I make it sound like NYC, Wanaka is like 5 blocks by 5 blocks) We had a real good time and it was nice to hang out with a Kiwi and not someone who is just a traveler. Dean is on holiday here in Wanaka, he really lives in Wellington. As of yesterday Rob and I couldn't get on the Kiwi bus for Saturday because it was booked solid so we were on the waitlist. Dean offered to take us to Queenstown because it's only an hour 1/2 away and he's on holiday. I definitely considered it, but I called the Kiwi office today and I got on the bus so that's good. Mom, you can pick your mouth up off the floor and dad you can stop yelling. It is extremely safe here... the people here are just nicer and willing to go out of their way for you. They are proud of their country and want the people that visit to experience it to the fullest... p.s. bet you all didn't know that hitchhiking is a main form of transportation here.

So US-Holland turned out to be ok... still not a huge fan of her, but she was nice to hang out with for a night. I think I may have run into her at a Grateful Dead concert or in the dance pit the last time I saw Phish. She tried to tell me that when she was hiking in Franz Josef she saw THE tree where pixies came from. She was so sincere about the whole thing, she even whipped out her digital camera and showed me a picture of the tree. It took everything I had to not laugh. I wanted to tell her to stay off the pot she was smoking for a few days but I decided not to... I also opted to tell her that maybe it was a bird that she saw on the tree, but I didn't want to spoil her utter amazement with the pixie tree. I mean seeing the tree where pixies come from... man, that's a story to tell the grandkids. I think US-Holland needs to dock her boat somewhere other than Amsterdam.

Some of you may remember when I was backpacking Europe I had a Japanese girl accuse me of stealing her contacts and her contact case in Belgium (I'm not lying). Well I think I am receiving payback for laughing right in her face. There is a Japanese girl staying in my room for a few days. She is extremely nice, but like the can opener girl, she doesn't really understand English. So I talk to her slow and try to act things out like I'm playing charades-- awesome. It took me five minutes to try to explain to her where the grocery store was. Finally I just drug her out the sliding glass door of our room and pointed at it... I should have thought of that first. I think God wants me to be the Japanese tourist ambassador. My job will be to show them how to use kitchen utensils and point out the nearest grocery store. I think I have found my calling. Also, this has nothing to do with the story I just told, Dean told me last night that I should do stand up comedy, not the first person to suggest it, but it was pretty funny. Are there any job postings at QVC for japanese tourist ambassador/stand up comedian? Jenny and Richard, please let me know and put that down on my PODP.

I'll write in Queenstown... oh and check this out www.google.co.nz
now type in Nevis Highwire!

NZ time: Thursday, February 8, 2007, 4:30pm (Hey, it's Matt Herneisen's birthday)
Philly time: Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 10:30pm (not Matt Herneisen's birthday)