Inbar ended up going to a different hostel in the end, so we said goodbye to him early--he was actually leaving NZ to go back to Israel 2 days later. The old man who worked at Holly's put Sontsa & I in a 4-bed dorm room, which he said we may end up having all to ourselves. After resting up a bit & eating some food, we went to tour the town. Oh, and because Sontsa & I are moving around again so much from place to place, we are back to eating crappy backpacker food again. For the past 3 weeks, my diet has basically consisted of toast with nutella, white rice, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, granola bars, peanut butter & honey sandwiches, and a few bananas here and there--super nutricious, I know. When I get back home, I will not want to look at toast or sandwiches for a very long time & I think the only money I'll spend will be for going out to eat...a lot =)
So, not 2 minutes into mine & Sontsa's walk from the hostel into town, we see a familar face heading toward us on the sidewalk. That's right...it was 'our friend' again who we have now seen in 6 towns but whose name we've never known! This time, we all formally introduced ourselves; we learned that his name is Armin & he is from Austria. Traveling with him in Wanaka was a girl named Kellie from Tennessee who he'd met on the bus coming from the previous city. As it turns out, they were both heading toward Holly's backpackers to stay the night as well =) So, Sontsa & I went into town and let Armin & Kellie go get checked into the hostel. We walked around & checked out prices for some of the other hostels--Holly's had turned out to be more expensive than we had expected, so we only wanted to stay there one night. Plus, the old man who I had mentioned worked at Holly's was one of these people who never stops talking. Everywhere we went in the hostel, he was right beside us just yabbering away. Even when Sontsa & I walked out of the hostel, he opened the window, stuck his head outside & started saying things such as "Now, you girls don't get into too much trouble hehehe." Needless to say , I didn't think I could handle more than one day of that haha.
We ended up finding another hostel that was cheaper called Mountainview Backpackers, so we went ahead & booked there for the last 2 nights that we'd be in town. Afterward, we explored the town a bit. Wanaka was a really pretty town with a beautiful lake, mountains in the distance, and lovely trees everywhere whose leaves had changed to the bright autumn colors. It had a very relaxed vibe to it. When we got back to Holly's, the old man told us we had two extra people in our room. I asked, "Are their names Armin & Kellie?" Indeed they were =) The four of us got on really well, chatted for a long time in the dorm room, shared stories & some laughs, then watched some TV and a movie at the hostel that night. We said goodbye to them the next morning when Sontsa & I checked out to go to the next hostel. It turned out to be the last time we ran into Armin before he flew out of NZ =(
The next hostel was really great & we met a lot of fun people. In our room, we had Sebastien from Canada, Jasper from Germany, and Andrew from Ireland. Sontsa, Sebastian & I took a walk around the lake later that morning, got some pictures, and chatted over some mochas in a really cozy coffee shop. The weather, however, had turned to crap. So, the remainder of the day (and night) consisted of everyone in Mountainview having a movie marathon in the lounge. Good movies, good people, and a warm fire...not a bad night. The next day, the weather cleared up & I did a certain thrilling activity that involves jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane =) OOHHHHH YEAHHHHH! As much as I want to go into every little detail about it right now, it honestly deserves its own blog. Therefore, for now, I will just say that it was AMAZING & I am so thrilled that I did it!!!! You'll get the full story within the next few days with all the juicy details though, so don't worry.
So, not 2 minutes into mine & Sontsa's walk from the hostel into town, we see a familar face heading toward us on the sidewalk. That's right...it was 'our friend' again who we have now seen in 6 towns but whose name we've never known! This time, we all formally introduced ourselves; we learned that his name is Armin & he is from Austria. Traveling with him in Wanaka was a girl named Kellie from Tennessee who he'd met on the bus coming from the previous city. As it turns out, they were both heading toward Holly's backpackers to stay the night as well =) So, Sontsa & I went into town and let Armin & Kellie go get checked into the hostel. We walked around & checked out prices for some of the other hostels--Holly's had turned out to be more expensive than we had expected, so we only wanted to stay there one night. Plus, the old man who I had mentioned worked at Holly's was one of these people who never stops talking. Everywhere we went in the hostel, he was right beside us just yabbering away. Even when Sontsa & I walked out of the hostel, he opened the window, stuck his head outside & started saying things such as "Now, you girls don't get into too much trouble hehehe." Needless to say , I didn't think I could handle more than one day of that haha.
We ended up finding another hostel that was cheaper called Mountainview Backpackers, so we went ahead & booked there for the last 2 nights that we'd be in town. Afterward, we explored the town a bit. Wanaka was a really pretty town with a beautiful lake, mountains in the distance, and lovely trees everywhere whose leaves had changed to the bright autumn colors. It had a very relaxed vibe to it. When we got back to Holly's, the old man told us we had two extra people in our room. I asked, "Are their names Armin & Kellie?" Indeed they were =) The four of us got on really well, chatted for a long time in the dorm room, shared stories & some laughs, then watched some TV and a movie at the hostel that night. We said goodbye to them the next morning when Sontsa & I checked out to go to the next hostel. It turned out to be the last time we ran into Armin before he flew out of NZ =(
The next hostel was really great & we met a lot of fun people. In our room, we had Sebastien from Canada, Jasper from Germany, and Andrew from Ireland. Sontsa, Sebastian & I took a walk around the lake later that morning, got some pictures, and chatted over some mochas in a really cozy coffee shop. The weather, however, had turned to crap. So, the remainder of the day (and night) consisted of everyone in Mountainview having a movie marathon in the lounge. Good movies, good people, and a warm fire...not a bad night. The next day, the weather cleared up & I did a certain thrilling activity that involves jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane =) OOHHHHH YEAHHHHH! As much as I want to go into every little detail about it right now, it honestly deserves its own blog. Therefore, for now, I will just say that it was AMAZING & I am so thrilled that I did it!!!! You'll get the full story within the next few days with all the juicy details though, so don't worry.
The night after my adventurous day was great fun as well. We met some more people in the hostel: Emily, Suzanna & Tom from England, plus Tomi from Canada. The 6 of us plus Sebastien played card games until really late that night & had such a great time! Lots and lots of laughs =) The next morning, Sontsa & I checked out of the hostel & caught a ride with three German girls that had also been staying at the hostel--Lara, Eleanor & Yvonne. Jasper, one of our dorm mates, had actually set the ride up for us because he, the German girls & three Argentinans had been traveling around together in two separate cars. Since he heard that Sontsa & I were going the same direction as them, he asked the three German girls if they could take us in their car & they said "Sure." Backpackers always seem to help out other backpackers, so that was really nice...waaay better than the bus. An hour later, we arrived in Queenstown, the city that backpackers flock to & never want to leave!
Cheers,
Ash
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