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Morning View
Here is the view of Lake Tekapo out of one of our hostel's picture window. NZ Day 15
Need a ride?
We had a nice brekky of scones I made fresh in the morning. The view was gorgeous because there were picture windows from the hostel looking out on Lake Tekapo. Can I say gorgeous!!!!!!!!
Today I did something I thought I’d never do. Pick up a hitchhiker. Mom, don’t get scared. He wasn’t actually a hitchhiker but it was probably the closest I’ll ever get so I figured I’d let myself check it off the list.
Johan was a guy from Germany who was staying at the same hostel as us. Just before we left the hostel as we were gathering our things a lady in the kitchen asked us if we were gonna brave the roads. We hadn’t heard that the roads were that bad so we stopped to ask her what she was referring to. She told us that the German guy was having to stay another day, again, because the bus that he was taking to Christchurch couldn’t brave the roads and had been cancelled.
A wave of feelings rushed over me. I wanted to help. We were in a position of help. I don’t know
The drive
We finally saw the blue sky again.....Yay! why but like I have several times on the trip I thought of my aunt Linda and how she’s always game and up for different situations and helping people and getting new experiences. I looked at Sarah and after a quick consultation we went to find the German guy. When he heard we were going to Christchurch he asked if he could tag along and give us some money for gas. It turned out perfectly. I felt adventurous, it was safe and fun.
Before we could shove off. The ladies parked next to us “mothered” Sarah into putting chains on the car even though when we got out to the road we realized that they were so unnecessary that we immediately took them off. Just another practice in putting them on, and getting really dirty. We are really proficient at it now.
Or drive was pretty nice and simple and just over 3 hours. I did feel a little less like stopping because Johan was in the car but it was okay because there wasn’t anywhere that I felt I lost out because we didn’t stop.
When we got to Christchurch we said goodbye to Johan as
Foodstalls
At the art centre market in Christchurch. he walked off to his hostel. We parked at the Rolleston House (YHA) and went inside to get a room. The desk was closed so we meandered across the street to the Art Centre where we caught the end of the weekend market.
The Christchurch Art Centre is made up of the campus of an old Uni. It has gorgeous rock buildings and courtyards etc. There was an entire row of food stalls from all over the world (Lebanon, Czech Republic, Thai, Cantonese, German, Bavarian, and French Crepes). It smelled delicious but somehow Sarah and I were able to restrain ourselves. The rest of the booths were handmade crafts and clothes. There was also a stage booth that had some people playing music. It had a nice local and homey feel. It reminded me of some of the good markets in Oz.
After our fun at the markets we went back to the YHA to get some beds only to find that they are all booked up. They suggested we go to the Thomas Hotel on the next street so we walked over and got some beds. It was a swankier place than we’re used to I think
Christchurch Museum
This is kinda what the buildings look like all aroudn here. but they did have some multi-share beds available for us. And they were cheaper than at the YHA. Unfortunately it doesn’t have a carpark so we are having to play a dancing game of moving the car to the park and then free night parking on the street and what not.
So while we waited for free parking on the street to move our stuff inside we decided to check out the Christchurch museum. The Paua shell house exhibit just opened up two days ago, and it’s a free exhibit.
remember we were introduced to the Paua shell house in Bluff when we saw some newspaper clippings on the walls of the fish and chips shop. It would be nice to see this story full circle so we wanted to see the exhibit. Unfortunately, we had to book times to go in and see it and the times for today were all booked up. We did however get to see some cool exhibits on the Moas (prehistoric birds that populated NZ and exhibits on the Maoris. My favorite exhibit was the Costume exhibit that had dresses and uniforms from the 1900s to the 1950s. We also closed the Museum
Christchurch Church
Here is one of the churches in downtown Christchurch. GORGEOUS!!! down in the Antarctica exhibit. Tomorrow we are going to go back and see more of the exhibits and hopefully get into the Paua house. I had forgotten how long you can spend in a museum without noticing it or seeing close to everything. There is so much to read and learn.
Then we took a little walk through downtown Christchurch. We saw an ad for 1 dollar milkshakes at KFC and we just had to stop. I had been down about our accommodation and the parking frustration and a chocolate milk shake (which is my comfort food) was just what I needed. It worked like a charm and my mood picked up in no time.
Then we moved the car and settled into our room a bit. Unfortunately we found the very same ladies who mothered Sarah filling up the other two beds in our room. They were nice enough but I would have preferred to have the room to ourselves. Especially for tomorrow when we have to repack all of our bags for travel.
Tomorrow we are gonna spend 9am-6pm out and about so we don’t have to pay for parking and so we get to see the Christchurch area. I can’t believe it’s almost over. I’m gonna try to enjoy what I’ve got left though. See you soon enough.
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