Its not a surcharge its a service fee so bugger off

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Cycling between Blenheim and kaikoura was probably the best part of my trip so far, I even had a magpie stalking me for a few hours. I think it was attracted to my lovely shiny silver helmet. It kept on dive bombing sporadically every so often and to tell you the truth this thing was freaking me out. I didn’t fancy becoming a living Hitchcock novel. After a while though it just turned into a bit of playful joisting with the bird, Sneaky little fellow really. Having said that if the chance had a risen I would have killed it in a heartbeat because it was putting the shitters right up me. From now on I shall be on my guard against these flying rats. It was quite a relief that it was a magpie in the end though because when I initially saw this squawking shadow coming up behind me I has these terrible visions in my head of been dragged away by some man bird. In hindsight though this is a good thing as I am now prepared to face Nestor on Arthurs pass. This is a type of bird that just generally bites people. It has something of a mythical status with people who have gone over Arthurs pass. Google it, because it really does exist.

For the second part of that day I cycled right along the coastal road between Oahu and Kaikoura. For a good 20 km or so the beaches were just covered in smelly/noisy lumps of fat that go by the name of seal. The strange thing is that for something that seems so completely useless they are surprisingly mobile on dry land never mind in the sea. They also really smell and by in large they are vicious little shits! The one major disappointment of this little stretch of road is that I took no photos. This was partially because it was pissing down with rain and also because people had said that there were far more seals in Kaikoura (more of later) anyhow it was good to have the seals as company for this little stretch. It was good to have something different that wasn’t a lairy dog, cow or sheep. The seals also seemed to be a bit more sociable than the aforementioned bovine and friends. I liked the seals even though they look a bit tardy at the best of times. Sheep and cows seem a bit passé now.

I finally made it to Kaikoura around 1900 just after it had got dark. It was a good thing as the illumination on leopard is minimal to say the least. Kaikoura is supposed to be quite nice I thought it was really quite crap. The only re deeming feature about this place were the mountains that surround the place. Another problem was the hostel I stayed at (albatross hostel, don’t go) was run by an investment bank. They accused me of credit card fraud and the relationship quickly detiorated form there on after. People come to see whales at kaikoura so no doubt after seeing one it sends them into some kind of opium-esque high which gives them good vibes about the place. The flip side is that people who don’t go whale watching quickly see it for what it is, orrible. Oh and another thing about this place is that there really aren’t that many seals here. The only seal I did get quite close to was a bit of a mystery really. It was lying on a rock by itself looking rather docile. I couldn’t quite decide whether it had come to this quiet little place to die alone or whether it just wanted a bit of peace and quiet, judge for yourself. I’d like to think it wasn’t dieing just maybe it just one of those aloof souls.

From Kaikoura I got on the bus to Christchurch. This was because I had a job starting the next day that paid in cash. It’s a sad day when cash dictates the direction of your compass. On the plus side though the extra cash I have earned from this job will give me the leeway to technically cycle back on myself over Arthurs pass. This shall take me from the east coast of the south island to the west coast, over the mountains. It will also take me further north when in fact I want to be going south. It shall probably make more sense when my calf’s explode.

I came to Christchurch to start a job at rug world which is basically a company that displays hundreds of carpets in a huge room in the hope of selling them. The job for about me and 5 other backpackers was lugging the huge rugs up stairs and filling this room with carpets. The manager promised us that after these few days would be hard but for the next few weeks the job would be easy. It was in the sense that after the initial few days of carrying carpets they gave us no more work, scamming ozi shyster. All that toil for bugger all. Thankfully as one door closes another opens. This came in the shape of the g string jungle/bra world. It is run in similar fashion to rug world. This job isn’t actually that bad. This is largely down to our boss, Brenty lad. He fits the stero typical ozi mould quite well I think. It’s all about taking it easy and 1 hour lunch breaks instead of half an hour but don’t tell anyone. As a rule of thumb Brenty detests kiwis. There is a definite Delboy edge to this bloke. He has already managed to acquire a few mementos for me in the process setting off the addington events center main alarm.

As of now Bra world has sadly come to an end. I am still in Christchurch and plan to stay till next Monday. This is largely a decision based around what seemed at the time England’s unlikely progression to the finals of the rugby world cup. O and I also need a new wheel for the bike as the spokes on one of them are dead.


goodbye from me folks

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Photos

Bra World uniting the nations
l-r Jo,Gareth,me,Ellen,Aline,Simon,Anne,Brenty Lad (inspirational leader)

Cantebury Vs Auckland in the Ranfurly shield final
The Tui Sombrero challange

Shane
Would you believe that he is in the British army

The 12 B box is proving elusive
Gareth and Dietrich

simon at bra world
its all most as if he was ashamed of working at bra world

Shadowplay
on the way to work

Funky monkey section
Mattias in the funkymonkey section

Rug world
getting those things up the stairs left me with a number of aches and pains

Comments

[Beata and Tomek]

looks very nice