Alice's Theatre, The Bus Lady and Antarctica

Life Lesson: Don't Talk to People on the Bus! Do Talk to People Dancing!

23/10/23

Hey everybody! I hope you enjoy the How Its Made esque title of this blog posting. That may be a niche joke. I know my dad is laughing though. Ok, let's get into it!

I last left you with my epic tramping adventure, so this weekend I decided to keep my life in the city. Conveniently, the Aotearoa Film Festival has been in full swing so I got to discover New Zealand through the screen. Alice's Theatre was one of the coolest, little cinemas I have ever been to. Alice and Wonderland themed, the ambiance felt like dark academia mixed with burlesque. The shelves are lined with CD's from westerns to dramas to a New Zealand Christmas. It's definitely worth the ticket. 

I attended two showings from the Show Me Shorts Film Festival: Crime Spree and Women Rock the World. Both had exceptional films from a variety of directors from all over New Zealand, Europe and Australia. My favorites were Pissen au Patriachat and Ultraveloci. Pissen au Patriachat was designated "revenge fantasy" as its genre and followed the tale of a lady who has to urgently pee at the gas station. Due to the toilet being broken, she has nowhere to use the restroom and the gas station attendant proves entirely unhelpful since he can pee standing up. It spiraled into a WILD rage-filled execution of the people at the gas station. It was incredibly entertaining and silly. The Ultraveloci film was more soulful and sweet. A paralyzed man works at a shop with his father and is told to lock up for the night. As his mobility is limited, he dreams of being one of the heroes in his favorite TV shows. He eventually got his opportunity when robbers attack the shop while he is locking up. In an action filled, heart-warming short he saves the family shop with his wit. It was quite inspiring. Overall, a great couple nights at the theatre! 

Now, for the bus lady. On my way to the theatre, I happened to lose my metro card and it struck conversation with a few individuals on the bus. They were headed to a swing dancing event and told me I should go. These folks were older than me, probably late-30s, early 40s but seemed like normal enough people. The event was tonight and a beginners course the next day at 3:45 and was supposed to be a hoot-hollering grand time. I exchanged numbers with the nice lady who brought up the dancing and said I would think about it. I got back from the theatre and saw a bunch of text messages from this lady updating me on where they were going for the night and when I would meet up with them. I politely told her I was quite tired from my epic night of Crime Spree but would absolutely join them all tomorrow! 

The next day, she called me so we could ride the bus to Fat Eddie's together. I got ready, grabbed my bus fare and headed to the bus stop. When I arrived, the lady was wearing a blue hat, a trench coat and sunglasses. To be honest, it was a fabulous outfit. Then, she proceeded to tell me all of her aches and ailments and qualms about the world all the way to the bus interchange. She told me about her foundation, her last lover and all of these wildly contradictory things. That's when I realized, I am kind of scared of this lady. We get to the bus station and I need to replace my metro card so I tell her I am going to the counter and then might grab a snack before I head over. I said that she could go ahead if she wanted (we were still early for the event) but she insists to wait with me. As I head to grab a cheese biscuit, she points out that it is a buy one get one and I need to get a second biscuit or muffin. I didn't want another one but I offered for her to take my second one. She refused but insisted that I needed a chocolate muffin but she would hold it for me. It was free, whatever. I get the muffin. She holds it. We walk to the metro counter. I start filling out my info for a new card and she says, "wow! you need id for those? I don't have an id" and she slowly starts sinking into her hat trying to hide her face. WHO IS THIS LADY? At this point, I am kind of getting red flags all around but I genuinely want to go to this dance thing so I let her lead the way. We get there and the Dunedin Big Band is absolutely rocking the stage. 

 <--- peep the bus lady in the corner

 As the band cleared, the dance instructors came to the front and called everyone to the dance floor. The bus lady drags me to the floor and we start to dance. The friends that were with her the night before were nowhere to be seen. I slowly melt into the crowd and hide. I meet some super cool Canadians and we tear up the floor with "the eggbeater". Eventually, the bus lady comes back for me and forces herself into the circle. As the songs end, I exchange numbers with the cool people I met and muster up the courage to get the hell out of there. I tell her I'm going to go and she says "great! I'm ready to go too!" and I kind of panic that this lady is going to follow me everywhere I go today. Jas, who I exchanged numbers with, was about to order a drink, so I take the quick second I have without the lady following me and ask them what I should do. The bus lady comes back up and I tell her I think I am going to stay here now. She says "oh great! I was thinking the same thing!" and she goes back up to the table she had originally claimed. At that moment, I panic but am assured by Jas that I am totally valid in ditching this lady that is LITERALLY FOLLOWING ME AROUND. I beeline to the exit and make a run for it. I never will know what happened of the bus lady but apparently once I left she was scouring around the restaurant looking for me. I hid in a mall for a few hours before deeming it safe to get back on the bus. I do feel a bit bad for the lady; she probably was just lonely and wanted friends, but I did NOT like it at all. Long story short, don't talk to random people on the bus! They might follow you around at Fat Eddie's. Thankfully, my Sunday was a lot less eventful with a nice board game night with my flatmates. 

Despite my wild ride with the bus lady, it did end in new found friendship! Remember the cool Canadians? Well, we all went to the International Antarctic Center! Monday was New Zealand's labor day so the public holiday was great to have an adventure at the center. We first grabbed coffee and then moved on to the Hagglund rides. This is basically a mini Swedish tank that we took on an obstacle course! It was awesome. We cleared a 2 foot gap in the earth!

Next, we moved on to the gallery and the penguins! Penguin feeding time was at 10:30 and it was the absolute cutest thing. Check out these adorable Little Blues. While technically I have now seen these penguins, I can't add them to my bird count because they were in captivity. Nonetheless, it makes me even MORE excited to see one in the wild. I would loveee to be a penguin keeper. 

The center also had a 4D Antarctic experience, a snow storm simulator and a husky zone!! Overall it was an awesome experience and it was so cool to go! On my way back, I actually ended up meeting a couple of guys who were GOING to Antarctica to work on the Ice Cube project. Here's some cute photos from the center!

In preparation for my Stewart Island trip, I had found a nice sleeping mat out in Lyttleton so I headed out there to pick it up. It was a beautiful day to be at the harbor. As I got up there, I realized that the Christchurch gondola was on the bus route! I have been wanting to get a good view of the summit so I decided I would do a last minute trip up on the way back. Boy am I glad I did! Was truly a great end to a great day!

I am now getting ready to head to Picton with my friend Moyu to go wine tasting!!! I am super excited! Stay tuned!