Christchurch and the Learning Curve!

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Hi guys

Sorry there hasn't been much blog action lately but I have been working in an office in Christchurch for the last couple of months. I got to Christchurch in the second week of March and it took me about two weeks to get a job. Christchurch is the Garden City but it is also the city of the worst drivers in the world! Here many people don't even have their licenses and changing lanes is something unique to experience. A NZ driver will indicate and move straight away, whether their car will fit in the space they are trying to get into or not, so if you just miss that happening in front of you for, you know, sensible things like checking your mirrors, chances are you are going to end up in a pile up. Having driven in London I can safely say that NZ drivers, particularly those in Christchurch need to go back to school or have their licences revoked! Christchurch is also land of the grid junctions - every single crossing is a crossroad! But Christchurch is also home to the cheapest roast dinners for a cool $10 and some of the nicest places to eat in terms of price and quality.

I caught up with Anja, James and Thomas when I first got there and spent a few great days with them. Anja was first to leave, then Thomas, then James. They all started making their way back home via other countries and I was alone again. I felt pretty sad when they left because we all had such a good laugh together. Later on I got a guitar and did a bit of busking in Cathedral Square - made a bit of money too!

I started trying to find somewhere that would let me stay long term and found a place called Urban Rooms. I moved my bags into the room and was meant to cough up $300 for some sort of deposit and upkeep of the building. I had to be at an agency soon after meeting the woman I needed to give the money to. It turned out that it was better she didn't turn up on time because I was told that they were going to be putting foam installation in the walls for a month and then it turned out that several people had slept in my bed over the last few months and the sheets had never been changed. So, off I ran back to the hostel I originally stayed in. After a lot of faffing about I moved into another backpackers which offered long term accomodation. Again I met some nice people but unfortunately for me, they had a cat and being allergic I couldn't stay there so once again returned to the original hostel. By this point they were prepared to let me stay two months after the Day Manager; Eugene, sorted it out for me. Then things got interesting.

I bought a car for $300 which was meant to be $600 but the girl who sold it had not given herself time to sell it before leaving the country. I gave her half of the money until I had enough to give her the rest, again it turned out better that she was prepared to take half because then came the problems. The brand new battery was brand new dead and my car had collapsed at some traffic lights in the middle of Christchurch in the evening. Luckily for me a couple of nice Kiwi guys pushed my car across the road where I had to abandon it. These rather nice people were on the way to dinner but drove me back to my hostel where I had to rally some people to come and jump start the car yet again! I had to take it to a garage where I was clobbered $110 for a new battery (even though the "new" battery was under warranty - the girl had conveniently not given me a proof of purchase for this) and $56 for the mechanic to look at it. Thinking my problems were over I drove away from the garage with this clicking sound and the charge light flashing on and off. Eugene and I couldn't figure out what it was but the car stalling and not starting became a more regular thing. Eugene took the alternator to a garage where it turned out that the diodes were screwed and it was going to cost $500 to find the part. Instead we got a rebuilt alternator for $80 and the problem was solved!

I spent the rest of my time driving to surrounding areas and to and from work. Work became more and more boring as people just didn't talk to me. For 40 hours a week I was stuck in an office on my own staring at spreadsheets with little or no communication with any other people. After a while I decided that three months was more than enough in Christchurch and I needed to move on at the end of May. I couldn't find anyone to share the car with and petrol in New Zealand has now rocketed to $2 a litre so it started to look like backpacking with a car was not feasible unless I could travel with three other people everytime I moved on. The weather was also looking a bit daunting for driving a car with no power steering. Ice and snow are about to be very common and I didn't fancy my chances of dodging death on winding, gravel, mountain roads where a wrong turn could send me plunging to a very squishy death!

Things also hit the fan in the hostel with my mate Eugene being accused of all sorts that he hadn't done (can't talk about it here for legal reasons - honestly, I'm not kidding). But, one of my best mates met through traveling had become homeless and jobless on the same day all because supposed adults were playing some very childish games to get him sacked. This resulted in me having a rather heated exchange with the hostel owner after he approached me about an online rating that I gave the hostel, and leaving to stay somewhere else for my last week. This has been one of my best moments of the trip, as normally I won't get involved in an argument, but I stood my ground with him and eventually got him to stop digging himself a deeper hole. It's all working out for the best for Eugene though. I met a lot of cool people courtesy of Eugene and he stopped me from going completely mad in the hostel by allowing me to sit and play guitar in his flat. I won't forget the nights of America's Next Top Model and Indiana Jones movie nights, you're the best Eugene! Other people who made my experience in this hostel a fun one..... Ran (Japan), Kristin (Germany), Julie (Germany), Keith (UK) and a few other people who have since moved on.

Apart from all the drama that clouded my last few days in Christchurch it was a good experience. I got used to driving on my own and can't wait to have a car of my own as I enjoyed it so much. I took a trip to the Gondola to have a look over Lyttleton Harbour, the views were stunning. I also took a trip on "one of the best train journeys in the world" (Trans Alpine) and quickly realised that although the first couple of hours were very breathtaking, the best train journey in the world thing could be a bit overblown. But I am finding that a lot of New Zealand tourist statements like this one are usually tarted up, so to speak, because once you pay the moolah you wonder what it was they were talking about and realise you have been duped. New Zealand has become a very expensive place to visit. It's not expensive with pounds but after living and working for a while I discovered quite a few things about the economy here. It's going through a very bad patch. People are being made redundant a lot, people can't afford their mortgages and more and more Kiwis are heading to Australia for a better life. Wages are poor here and if you want to travel around and still be able to experience things then you need to get office work because it is the best paid. It doesn't at all give you quality of life for those hours you are working but it gives you money to see the other things that are going to be quite costly!

As I write this I am in Oamaru where there really is nothing to do, although you can see some penguins if you are prepared to pay $15 to stand on a viewing platform when, chances are, you will be able to see them if you walk around the Harbour - for free! (wrote a little song about it) and tomorrow I am heading to the center of music culture that is Dunedin. It will be bloody cold but worth it because the music scene is so big there. There are so many venues so I am sure I will enjoy it. I won't enjoy the office work again but hey, I'm learning that you gotta do what you gotta do in order to experience and enjoy life to the full. It's not about selling out or being a slave to the grind, it's about realising that the world has changed and you have to fit in it somewhere if you want to enjoy it. But also, this is personal experience, there are no rights or wrongs. Any version of living is a valid one if it makes you happy and you shouldn't let anyone tell you any different - if they do tell you then there is something in their life that they are not happy with and they want to make you feel it too. All this time out has made me realise that this is what people in my life have done for years and I've let it bother me. If your family and friends don't encourage and support your decisions, even when they might be wrong choices, then they don't really care about you but have something selfish to gain from pushing you in their direction.

Crikey, who would have thought I would have learnt so much about myself from just getting on a plane and flying to the other side of the world - and there were so many who thought I was wasting my time..... I wonder what they are doing now.......?

Anyway, I know I am getting slack about adding the pictures from these places to the blogs but it is so slow to add them I can never find the time.

Next stop Dunedin!

xx

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