Where I Wear My Moccasins Juggling the commitments of a student and dreams of a traveller.

The festival wasn't the only thing wild about this trip! My new friends from California and I packed ourselves into a rental car option called "el cheapo" (gives you an idea of what it was like-but it wasn't too bad) and headed over the Southern Alps to the west coast where huhu grubs, lamb tails, and liquid sunshine awaited us. The drive was fantastic, Rebecca did a wonderful job navigating the curviest mountain roads I have ever seen for never having driven in NZ before! We we going the speed limit, but kept getting overtaken by the locals or crazy tourists. I really did feel like a rollercoaster ride! We arrived on Friday evening of March 7. We didn't book accomodation thinking we could just park somewhere and sleep in the car. We had trouble at first finding a spot, wondering if it was legal or not. Finally we asked some rent-a-cops and they said "F*** yeah! Park anywhere!" So off we headed to find a nice quiet spot. We came to an overlook that had great views of the city and sea. Despite the cramped quarters, it sure beat paying $30 a night to sleep in a tent with people partying outside all night. The next morning, we headed to the festival grounds to brave all the slimy, crunchy goodies we could handle. I ate a cooked huhu grub, which tasted much like peanut butter, but I wouldn't eat it again! I also sampled escargot, punga (a fern core), rose water, rhubarb champagne(which isn't alcoholic I found out after my purchase), and langos ( a Hungarian type of fried bread that isn't that wild but damn tasty!). After I had my fill of crazy food, I enjoyed a Maori performance and Elvis impersonater-both were quite good. Rebecca, Brittany and I left the fest early to have a picnic of real food and then headed to the beach. We found an abandoned smoldering bonfire and claimed it our own. We built it up and quite enjoyed it until a security guard came round to tell us it was too close to the grass and vegetation. We got it moved and it didn't lose too much energy, but it didn't have enough to dry us of the unwavering misty rain that soaked us through. Finally the sun set behind the clouds and the rains seemed to take heed and let up as well. More of our American friends found our bonfire and we enjoyed ourselves until the last ember burned out. I didn't mind the wet and miserable conditions because it meant I was back on the beach again. The next day we had a quick breakfast and headed to Hokitika Gorge. The water here was a beautiful turquoise and the vegetation was like something out of a National Geographic magazine. We didn't stay long except to take a few photos and cross the swingbridge because the sandflies were swarming us. My bites still itch today-they can be worse than mosquitoes! The journey back had awesome views since we were going through Arthur's pass again. All I wanted after that adventure was a nice hot shower!