The girls! Emma, Sam, Me, Elyse and Lannette
The first stop on the birthday circuit was the Mad Cow. They are the bar that usually sends a party bus to campus so the rest of our friends had taken the bus into town from the boonies known as Lincoln. We added our friends Kevin, Jared, and Nick to our group and moved on to the next bar.
We ended up at the Billiard Bar which has these drink mixes in teapots. Jared bought me a tequila shot as a pre birthday shot. It was 11:45 so we decided to stay there till my birthday at midnight. Jared ordered a teapot and as soon as it was midnight, everyone had a shot for my 21st with me. We then moved to the upstairs area where they had live music and had fun dancing around. I also had another shot...
Apparently staying at one place was not an option, so we moved on to the next spot; a place called My Bar. I really like My Bar since it looks like the clubs in Auckland and has the best setup for dancing. We spent a while there just dancing and attempting to avoid creepy boys. Then it was on to Sol Square. This happens to be one of my favorite places to just chill so it was perfect for the end of the night. We went to the Yellow Cross where I had my last drink of the night and hung out a bit before everyone began getting sleepy. They also wouldn't let me in anywhere else (they have this no intoxicated people rule at the bars, its weird).
My birthday crew
The following day was the hangover from hell, which I guess is a requirement for the day after your birthday. Unfortunately, it was my actual birthday and I spent the whole day sick, hungry, and horizontal. Finally by 4:30 I was able to drink a smoothie and skype with my parents. The first thing my dad says to me, "Malia, you look hungover." "Thats cuz I am Dad." By 5 I was finally vertical, and completely fine. I had awesome mexican tacos for dinner and then the best birthday cake that Elyse and Lannette made me. It was chocolate with chocolate pieces and oreos on top. I took my birthday night easy by watching movies in the lounge, ignoring everyone hassling me for not drinking on my birthday.
The following day was Saturday and meant it was actually my birthday back home. In an attempt to salvage my birthday plans, I chose to celebrate on my American birthday by going into town to have delicious sushi for dinner. Sophia came from Canterbury, as well as Cody and his entire apartment.
Elyse, Lannette, Emma, Me, Cody and in the back from left, Sam and Sophia at an awesome Sushi restaurant
I got birthday ice cream before my dinner which was odd, but good nonetheless. We took Sophia home with us to Lincoln and went to the Grouse for a couple of birthday drinks. Then we hung out at Farm Road for a bit before going home.
The next morning, I woke up early to drive to Akaroa with Lannette. We had signed up to swim with the world's smallest and rarest dolphin. Its equivalent with seeing a panda in china. We got outfitted in our wetsuits and took our spot at the front of the boat. I became the dolphin spotter and even got to see one jump out of the water (they aren't known for their acrobats). We saw a bunch of different pods of about 2 or 3 dolphins. We even saw some penguins which had been on my New Zealand checklist. We were waiting for the dolphins that stuck around even when the boat was turned off. Finally, one single dolphin was swimming around and the guide told us to get in the water.
So excited to finally be swimming with dolphins!
I jumped in and was given rocks to bang underwater to interest them in coming over. The water was fairly cold because it was so overcast. I knew these dolphins were small but once you are in the water with them you really can see how tiny they are. They are about the length of my arm span. Right as I got in, one was circling the group and darting in between everyone. Next thing I know, there is a new group of 2 and another new group of 3. One went zooming by so close I think he was inches away from my body. I of course screamed.
It was incredible to be surrounded by these tiny dolphins. The fact that they were endangered and extremely rare made it that much better. I had wanted to go swimming with dolphins my entire life and was never really comfortable with the thought of paying an absurd amount of money to sit in a pool with dolphins in a life jacket and doing kissing poses with them. While I wasn't allowed to touch these, to know they were wild animals and had chosen to spend some time with us really made it special. Unfortunately, they only stuck around for a bit and they were off to eating once more and it was time for me to get out of the freezing water.
Aren't they adorable! The babies are said to look like rugby balls with flippers.
Overall it was an incredible birthday weekend. Despite being in a country where the drinking age is 18, it still felt like my 21st was an important birthday. I got to experience with my new friends here, and while I missed celebrating with friends at home, it was still incredible. I also got to have great food (a nice change from the dining hall) and got to do one of my life goals by swimming with dolphins. It was definitely a weekend I will never forget!
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