Anna and I set out in the morning to meet Wade, Carly and Trey at Castle Hill, a very popular place to rock climb. Carly, Wade and Trey were coming over in their rental car from the west coast and Anna and I decided it was the prime opportunity to try hitch hiking. I didn’t tell my mom because I knew she’d worry, but I had only heard positive things about hitch hiking in NZ. I knew it was something I would never feel safe doing in America so I thought this was a great time to try. We took the 84 bus out to the gas station, crossed the street and stood around on the side of the road not really knowing what to do. Finally we got brave enough to stick out our thumb as the cars began to drive down the road that headed towards Castle Hill.
We were pretty sure we were doing something wrong, it just felt so unnatural. We couldn’t decide if we were supposed to smile, try to look cool, look old, look cute, or what. We didn’t have to debate for long because about 7 minutes after we started a couple pulled up in a car and offered us a ride. Leslie and Andy turned out to be very nice and interesting people. They’d both lived in Christchurch their whole lives and knew a lot about the animals of New Zealand. We talked a lot about sheep, rabbits, kiwi birds, possums and all the other wildlife and the way New Zealanders thought about the different wildlife. It was a really fun adventure and I’m so glad we did it.
We left one of the most beautiful days of spring in Christchurch to find horribly cold rainy weather only an hour inland at Castle Hill. Anna and I had arrived before Wade, Carly and Trey so we sat and waited on the side of the road. A bee was insistent on chasing me, which made it somewhat more amusing, but overall the weather and the waiting disappointed us. Once they arrived the sun began to come out and we started heading towards the rocks. Wade and Trey were awesome at rock climbing (it was actually bouldering that they were doing because there are no ropes involved). Carly, Anna and I took pictures and enjoyed watching them solve the problems of climbing different famous rocks. We drove home in the rental car with everyone and then went out to Indian for dinner (now one of my all time favorite types of food.) It was a very exciting day!!
Wade rock climbing
Castle Hill
My Christchurch Room
My Christchurch Room
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