had to get out of christchurch.  it looks like bosnia without half the number of attractive people.  so i decided that i would come to the beach/mountain town of akaroa.  an interesting irishman said that he would split the rental car with me if he could come.  so i agreed.  i believe that was my first mistake.

its only an hour or so drive, but tim decided that he wanted us to brave downtown rush hour traffic and gather some camping supplies for him, so the drive took 3 hours instead of 90 minutes.  while i was mildly annoyed at this, i was soon mollified by the drive out to akaroa, which is stunning and mountainous.  plus tim was afraid of my driving and i took both pride and pleasure out of that.  im not ashamed to admit it.

the town is so quaint; quiet and laid back even though it was originally settled by the french.  who knew?  we are camping at a hostel on the side of a mountain that is also a working sheep farm.  words and pictures cant quite capture the majesty of this place.  ill have to post pics of the ridiculous sunset last night when i get a chance. 

so this morning was a little rough after the few beers last night but i had faith that this next week traveling with tim around the mountains would go fairly well.  im beginning to think i was wrong.  we went for a hike today and i am finding so many things that annoy me about this man.  he constantly mumbles in a thick accent so i have to keep asking him to either repeat whatever inane comment he just made, or simply grunt in assent.  he seems to be ok either way.  he also has an annoying habit of trying to take care of me not in a chivalrous way, but in a parental way, which dara will tell you that i hate.  he even reminded me to "bring some toilet roll on the hike in case you have to 'country pee'".  i just about quit right there.

he keeps talking about how he was in the army and what boot camp was like, but im beginning to have the suspicion that he may be lying about that, and is instead an avid follower of military practices that borders on stalking.  he even tried to teach me how to properly walk down a hill without tripping.  this from a 32 year old, morose, pudgy lord of the rings fan who wears his pants above his belly button and was upset because he didnt have his correct military webbing for his water canteen.  the hike was just for 2 hours.  yeesh.

needless to say, im thinking about just giving him my half of the car rental money (which we are supposed to have for a week) and telling him that i need to be on my own.  i actually miss being quiet and having quiet around me. can i break it to him?  should i just continue to get schmammered instead?  i really dont want to say that i spent a week of my 6 weeks in new zealand with someone i dont like.  decisions...

that being said, this town so so cute i could eat it up.  one main road and we are living above it all, up in the clouds.  the sheep woke me up this morning and the only place to shower or cook is in a lean-to shed about 100 yards from the campsite.  its perfect.  we leave tomorrow morning for mt. cook in the middle of the south island.  i believe there are inactive volcanoes and whatnot there.  super excited to see all of that.

i love you.  i miss you.  send me strength.
taryn