Surfing and Eating and Tramping, oh my!

Happy Monday!  To everyone reading this from America,  it is still the holy day of rest,  which I was reminded of as I tried to organize insurance info for my taxes. ..

I had a wonder filled weekend of fun and adventure.  Saturday was exhausting.  My roommates and I biked nearly 2 hours to the beach, from there 'hiring' (aka renting) surf boards and wetsuits for 3 hours. The waves seemed less lethal than the ones I
Braved in hawai'i,  yet still elicited an intense sympathetic response (aka excited the crap out of my fight or flight mode. ) it takes serious energy to crash headfirst INTO waves,  just to venture far enough out  to catch the real waves.

Stopped in at the bike shop to get a few kinks worked out halfway to the beach.

 What a pleasure, though,  to look up from my boards and see a busy beach,  bright blue skies, and rolling green and yellow hills.

The water is fine!

We wrapped up the day with Indian food. In my case a delicious plate of palak paneer.

Choices, choices.....

Sunday was also a day of extremes. We took a bus with 45 other enthusiastic tramps. . I mean trampers... to the base of avalanche    peak in the Arthur's Pass national park.  

Feomt row and center seats on the bus.... verrrr nice!

    Despite the fact that we were socked in and getting spit on by chilly,  horizontally sailing raindrops,  I still had the opportunity to spot the famed Kia. A wild alpine parrot! Much of the foliage below tree line (bush line as it is called here) is just like the Kia: a strange amalgamation of tropical and winter hardy genetics.   The Kia was friendly,  curious, with a soft eye but a sharp break.

Magical fairy forests where elves and Kia live

At the top of the peak,  (3 vertical hours later) the clouds moved just enough for a rainbow.  A rainbow in Mordor, just like I Ordored (get it? Lots of the rings pun...)

Selfie from the top. Don't fall!

It was a surprise to be able to see anything at all, never the less *this*, when I got to the summit of Avalanche peak!

A few other things I have noticed over the days are:

-farmers wrap their hay bales in plastic to keep it fresh.  I wonder why that isn't common in the US.
-professors are terminally   chill.  Classes are not as easy going as their relaxed attire.
 -minimum wage just went up a quarter,  to 14.75$. That's double NM.
-the magpies here have a more complicated pattern of black and white, but are roughly the same size.
-in NZ, a possum is a black nocturnal creature with a thick, luxurious tail.

Kia ora friends!