we didn't bring any hiking type of gear with us because i just really didn't think about this sort of thing. i didn't want to be carrying a lot of luggage and not have anywhere to put it while i was trying to find a job and a place to live. face it, if you don't have a car, you shouldn't have a lot of things because you will have to haul it with you. i didn't want to haul.

today we went shopping for hiking gear at kathmandu, an outdoors store. they were having a huge sale and today was the last day. most items in the shop were 50% off. that sounds like a great deal, but as an american, let me tell you, if it wasn't 50% off, there's no way in hell i would've bought this stuff. i would have said, screw the nature part of new zealand! i'm not hiking at this price! it's VERY expensive. like so many things here. *sigh* i blew most of the money i've earned so far on things like sleeping bag, hiking backpack (gonna put the suitcase in storage while i travel around), extra straps to secure things to the backpack, warmer gloves, under clothes and quickdrying clothes (and making sure i have 2 sets of such clothes), travel pots & pans (much lighter than the stuff i bought for home cooking), emergency blanket (just in case when i'm hiking i don't make it to the huts and i have to fend for myself in the wilderness, or it's just really cold on the bus or something!), flashlight (my little key chain light ain't gonna cut it), travel laundry detergent, travel dishwashing soap, small pouch to store my cameras (take only photographs, leave only footprints), etc.

i'm not looking forward to being a pack mule but i'm really excited over seeing this beautiful country inch by inch. now, to find a portable stove... actually, i don't want to haul that thing around. maybe i'll cut off the trails from the list that do not have cooking facilities.

we skipped movie night on friday so that we could go to see "la dolce vita" today, but we shopped so long we missed the film.

i recently took a picture of a church just because the sky was all white and i knew it would be very easy to photoshop and make it look how it should be, with some blues. we had gone so long without blue in the sky. here it is below. subtle.

a church somewhere out in mt. eden, near balmoral