Christchurch - Introduction to an amazing country

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So, New Zealand's pretty cold at the moment..... and it's prob gonna get to -5 with a -10 windchill!! I think i was the only person in Christchurch wearing shorts the other day!!

The first night we stayed in Jail. Well, it was a jail till 1999, it's now a hostel, and a swish hostel. We were in cell 16, real authentic, but made a lot nicer. Proper cast iron cell door, and the beds were really comfy, the ones used in the athletes village for the Melbourne Commenwealth games no less! The place was great, and slightly cheaper than it should be as its 20 minute walk to town! Had a good look around on the first day, and i ended up in a proper pub, wrapped up, sat on a sofa infront of a roaring fire with a burger and a nice pint of wheat beer! Not something i'd have imagined doing 2 months ago.

Next day we moved into the town centre, right in the middle. The plan was to rent a campervan for a month and drive round both islands. I had quotes for a bog standard one, pretty pricey, but good way of seeing New Zealand! The first place we went to offered a mega deal (tourist numbers are down, so pretty desperate). It was a deluxe huge van with 2 single beds, dining table, full kitchen, hob, cooker, microwave, seperate bathroom, full shower, the lot. And a DVD player to boot. The price was stupidly cheap, and with free low excess insurance! It was a big bugger, so would have been fun for me, with no driving experience to drive... Anyway, then there was talk of minus 5 weather, lots & lots of snow, use of snow chains on the wheels, bad mountain roads, ice.......... Yeah, i decided against that, so we booked onto a hop on hop off bus tour of both islands. Got a good price on that, and you go round at your own pace, so should be ok!

To celebrate, we hit the hostel bar, $4 for any drink you could see, so it was rude not too. New Zealands beer is so much better than Australia's rubbish! Well into their ales, and most pubs offer lots of choice. We headed into town later later, and sampled said ales, nice place, and not as pricey as Aus.....

The last day in Christchurch was spent exploring the whole city. It's actually quite nice, very english in parts, the parks & gardens, and the cold weather. Ended up at a little market and overdosed on authentic Churros with chocolate, so so nice, but a bit much! Quiet night as i'm off on the bus very early up to Kaikoura, hopefully to do some Whale watching, and crayfish eating!

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