the (illegally inhabited) sign of the (possum-wielding) bellbird

Nato wants me to post on the sign of the bellbird.... Or more accurately the illegally inhabited sign of the bellbird. Did you all know that Nato is a blatant law breaker? No, i jest! i knew he was breaking the law but he didn't, so apparently the responsibilty falls on me! (Nathan is mister trustworthy so i just assumed he already knew and had checked it out with the park ranger... lol) The place that we stayed at is really a stop for trampers, but its not technically allowed to be somewhere people sleep the night... probably self-explanatory by the fact it doesnt even have four walls...

I should really start at the start... My (and Nato's) christian group at uni decided to go to the Sign of the Bellbird, on the hills overlooking Christchurch. It used to be a hut, i believe, but now there's just one room left, with only 3.5 stone walls and a tin roof... its pretty windswept, but there's an open fire. It was great, about 20 of us crowded around the fire, with sleeping bags, food, music and awesome company =) (even the drunk guy that stumbled in and danced for us, hee hee!) Unfortunately there were only 5 of us hard-cores and all the other pikers went off home! We went to bed sometime after 3am, the coldest part of the night! and i woke up at 7 and got up to watch the sunrise (go to Nathan's blog if you want to read about me and the majesty of it all!), and everyone else got up at 8.30.
There were some awesome highlights of the night...

1. Dan and i got lost getting there... we turned left instead of right, halfway up the hill. ended up going almost the whole way around the peninsula and back almost to where we'd turned wrong in the first place (a 45 minute drive instead of 10 minutes!!!!!) and yes, technically i am a woman and am allowed to ask for directions... but i never get lost... and i will only ask for directions if i am lost... BUT I AM NEVER LOST mwa ha ha ha!! (i cant believe how much i sound like a man!!) But there was good company, a car heater, and nice music (paul colman trio ... go the Aussies... united... again, go the aussies!!)... so an extra half hour or so was nothing bad! the mystical misadventures of michelle... of which there are many!!

2. when we were almost at the sign of the bellbird we saw a possum.. A POSSUM I TELL YOU!! it was sitting in the middle of the road, but when it saw us it scampered like lightening up a vertical rock! impressive... that was my first live possum sighting! we stopped in the middle of the road to watch it, but then my car stalled (as we were on a steep slope, lol) so we thought we'd better continue the mission

3. Andre and Nathan took me on a possum hunt to see if we could see more, but we didn't ... however it was still exciting, and i would like to commend Andre and Nato for not scaring me... opportunities were ripe and ready.. and the boys know i'm insanely scared of the dark, or more precisely what could be hiding in the dark! Very impressed with their restraint! lol!

4. we goosed around till the wee sma's acting like a um 5-some (does that have a word? like when you have three its a trio, four a quartet, etc) of escaped looney bin-ners! And everyone else was great too, til they piked and went home to their warm, comfortable beds! Its a really nice experience to huddle with people around a fire, half light playing on their faces, as you tell silly stories and sing goofy songs... !

5. Nathan sleep talked ... scared the heck outa me .. i thought drunk people had entered our illegal sleeping space!!

6. i, admittedly it was freezing cold, got up to see the sun rise over the peninsula... and have some well-needed God and me time =)

7. Nath let us have breakfast at his place, and Lee and i got to bounce on his trampoline... she double-bounced me so many times!!

8. i am now tired. quite tired. after a whole week of late nights doing assignments and being upset over how things are going... but at least when i go to bed tonight (which will be very soon i feel) it is a pleasurable tired. From spending time with people that i love, who have been really friendly and welcoming to this outsider, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life! Move over paris hilton!!! Next Christian group mission: sleepover at the farm...?? lol.. that would be exciting!

so yeah, its been a really awesome time =) would love to do similar shenanegans again!!