Christchurch

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March 9th 2009

Published: March 19th 2009

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Brooksie

Cathedral

This was shot from the middle of the Square. Coachman's Backpackers Hostel is nearby

First off, sorry for the delay. I'm trying to be good about blogging regularly, but honestly I've half lost track of time, and I'm waiting for a rainy day to sit down and do this (it hasn't really rained, except for on the ferry from the South to North Islands). Also, I'll stop using headings because I screwed up on the last post, and it looks like I was yelling for the second half of it. Another problem I have is that internet time on the road is expensive... It cost me $21 of internet time to get that Fiji post done right. It will all be worth it in the end, but I'm trying to limit my time from now on. Now that my rambling has mostly finished, it's time to start the blog entry 😊

So Christchurch is the little Britain of the South Island. As you saw in my previous post, I was greeted at Cathedral Square with a pipe band. It was a nice scene, and pretty much set the pace for my whole stay in Christchurch.

I decided at the airport that I'd stay at Coachman's. It's a nice, clean place, and is just

Writing time at Coachman's

This shot was taken inside the common area of the hostel where movies were watched, chess was played, and drinks were drank.

around the corner from Cathedral Square, the very center of downtown Christchurch. It seems as though the city was designed for travellers / backpackers. It's very easy to find what you need; Grocery stores, internet cafes, I-Sites (a bank of information for tourists found in almost every Kiwi town or city), pubs, galleries and museums are all within an easy walking distance from the Square. the Square itself is good for meeting other travellers, and its a great spot for people watching. One afternoon an interesting man wearing bright orange set up shop to loudly share his views on Christianity. Eventually another man and a teenage boy didn't agree with what he had to say, and a shouting match began... Honestly, I would have paid to watch them banter. It went on for a solid half hour. I made sure they thought i was listening to my Ipod so they couldn't include me...

I met Lio (short for Lioba) who was also staying at Coachman's for the night. She was nice enough to walk me to the grocery store and showed me around town a little bit. Later that night I did some solo exploring, and picked a direction

These aren't jellybeans

I originally thought they were jellybeans, but they definitely weren't. It's an advertisement for an erotica show that was happening in Christchurch. I found this on my random wander out of central Christchurch which eventually led me to the pub.

and just started walking. I picked the wrong direction, and ended up in an industrial area with plenty of car dealerships around. It wasn't as nice as the city center, so I made a hasty return trip, and found a little pub to enjoy my first Kiwi pint. The beer is nice in NZ; the first I had was a Tui. Almost all the sports bars here have gambling and betting facilities attached, so you can waste money at the coin slots or horse betting while sipping on your beer. (a note to Grandad; they aren't nearly as fun as the BINGO scratch cards you're used to... 😊) The bartender at the bar was a young Kiwi who I became friendly with. I was new to the city, so I made sure to ask a lot of questions about NZ. One point he made was that the 'drink driving' laws are firm in NZ, and he should know. He learnt them the hard way by losing his licence for 6 months; I mentioned that they were similar in Canada.

I also checked out the Backpackers Car Market. It's a place where you can easily buy and sell vans and

potential transport / mobile home

I found this at the christchurch Backpackers Car Market

cars that are used for very short term trips. It's a popular thing for backpackers to buy these vans, set up a double bed in the back, and use it as their accomodation along the way. I met one Swedish guy who was trying to sell his van, and had been on the road by himself for 5 months. It was a sweet ride; it had a red racing stripe down the middle, but I'm sure it hardly raced... it looked like the '88 van would struggle to go 100km/h... It was homey though, complete with a single bed in the back, cooking supplies and utensils, as well as a solar heated shower. I honestly would have bought it (only $1500NZ) but I wasn't sure at the time what Dad's or Northy's plans were. I might end up back at a place like that in Auckland when Dad arrives (it turns out I would. Stay posted for the Auckland post).

I didn't really go out too much while in Christchurch. I bought a few bottles of booze at the airport, and have been buying my own beer at liquor stores. I did go out a few times with Lio;

Trolley in Square

There were a few refurbished Trolleys that went on a circular loop through Central Christchurch.

one night we stopped by a place that was recommended by Lonely Planet called Cartel. It was a cool little bar tucked away in an alleyway beside other tiny drinking holes. The atmosphere was nice and was similar to the distillery district in Toronto. They were playing Neil Young, and we had a few drinks. We stayed for a while and eventually a live folk band came to play. they were a trio with a lead guitar and vocals, a fiddler a harmonica player. They played some Johnny Cash and some other artists we weren't familiar with. The place was busy by the time the band got on. An older genteman caught our eye. He must have been over 80, and was sitting across from the band sipping on some wine. He wasn't afraid to ask the young women in the bar to dance. He wasn't the slightest bit discouraged when he was denied, and instead he danced alone (like no one was watching). He was good fun to watch, and some of his dance moves were priceless...

Another night we went to a place called the Vespa Room. Again, the bar was very nice. We settled in the

Hiding? Or reading a book?

Lio was emersed in 'Vagabonding'

corner with a few drinks and it was open mike night. A talented guitarist and basist played some incredible covers. One of the songs he played was Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, which apparently was Lio's favourite song. I lost her for about 3 and a half minutes, and in the meantime I got lost in a rugby game that was on a nearby television...

On Thursday Lio and I decided we would hit the road and check out a town called Lyttleton and the Banks Peninsula. We planned a day trip with a rental car. We woke up early and were picked up in the Square by the rental company. We were equipped with a basic map, each other, and little experience driving on the left side of the road. The car also had a manual transmission, and the stick shift was on the left. In Canada, it's on the right. After stalling the car once while leaving the rental place, I made friends with the car and we headed towards Lyttleton. Lyttleton was very quiet. There's a huge port there, and at the time there were massive ships transporting lumber. I had a quick bite to

Hiding

I was definitely hiding.

eat and we were on our way to the Banks Peninsula.

The driving was incredible (Auntie Marge, you would love this stuff). Windy roads up and down mountains, with spectacular views of the surrounding hills and peninsulas, the water, livestock and lots of sheep. The roads clung to the cliffside. It was honestly exciting. So much so, that I was concentrating so much on the driving I didn't realize that the passenger (a very calm and collected German who was used to driving manual transmission) was trying to have a conversation with me... Sorry Lio! Every once in a while we'd stop and enjoy the view for a few minutes and take some pictures. The speed limit changed frequently through the area, and I was trying to stick to them as closely as possible. Not too often, crazed Kiwi driver would come flying up behind me. I'd pull over to the side and let them past. They seemed either fearless, drunk, or so confident on their knowledge of the road, that they barely braked before the corners. It made me a little more confident when we eventually passed another tourist... I regained some of my ego that I left

Cartel

Here's where we found the fold band and the 80 year old dancer.

at the rental place after stalling the car.

We stopped at Akoura, which was a nice little town. The main strip had some small stores, and plenty of nice B and B's and hostels. We stopped for a while to walk around and to stretch our legs. We wandered to the end of the pier, enjoyed an apple and the view. Akoura is well known for their swimming with dolphins experience, but on that day it was very sleepy with very little touristy things going on. It was nice though, and we had an ice cream on our way back from the pier (I've found a new flavour called Hokey Pokey, which is vanilla ice cream with bits of butterscotch in it. Nate, you would LOVE it. Ask mommy to help make it with you... Come to think of it, add some chocolate on the top and Mommy would like it even more than you! We checked out the war memorial there and then we were on our way back to Christchurch.

Lio took over the driving from that point, and I enjoyed some of the countryside. She was a natural... much smoother at it than I was,

Outdoor market

Vendors were selling everything, from jewelry to clothing. There were a few magicians, musicians and tarot card readers searching for that tourist dollar.

so I felt totally relaxed. We headed straight back to the car rental spot. We were running a few minutes late and had wanted to stop by a lake for a swim, but never got the chance. The sun came out for a while on our way back after hiding for most of the day, which was very cruel... After a roundabout adventure and a few horrible navigation errors by the worst person to hold a map (me), we arrived at the rental place. We met the frazzled employee who we met earlier, and he told us that we needed to take the city bus in from the airport. It was a little bit of an inconvenience but it wasn't too horrible. I fell asleep on the 15 minute bus ride into town and Lio called me old. I deserved it. 😊

I've been feeling a little bit of the money crunch in NZ... Fiji and the diving adventures took a bigger bite out of my wallet than I had anticipated, so I've been trying to live like a broke student again; a different lifestyle than I was used to while I was living and working in Toronto. I

Inside the Cathedral

must admit it's been difficult. To save money, I stayed in the hostel most nights and watched movies in the lounge. They had a pretty good selection, but some I don't really want to admit I watched (Shanghai Noon for example). I only ate out a few times, and when I did I tried to order the least expensive items. I shopped for my own groceries and cooked in the kitchen at the hostel. I actually made a surprisingly good beef and chicken stir fry a couple of nights... Enough to take me through a few nights for dinner. And I lived through it... I've been reading a lot as well, which is new for me. In Christchurch I finished the book Vagabonding by Rolf Potts (thanks for the book Emily and Andy). I would recommend anyone planning to travel for a long time and on a small budget to read this one. It has a lot of great anecdotes and it's an easy read. It's the only book that I'm going to keep with me for the whole trip; just in case I need some travel inspiration along the way. I also was reading In a Sunburnt Country by

Lyttleton

So quiet...

Bill Bryson. That's a good one as well (I eventually finished it on my way north to Ahipara, and traded it in for Holding the Key by Ted Conover... Another good book). I added a few 'must-visit' dots on my Australian map because of Bryson's words.

I wandered around a lot in Christchurch. We wandered to the Art Gallery and got cultured a 'lil bit. I walked to the Canterbury Museum, made a donation and thought I saw Luke McKay behind some glass. It was actually a statue of an early Maori settler hunting for a Moa (a bird long extinct that had been hunted by the Maori). the resemblance to Luke was staggering... I checked out the market which was happening daily from Wednesday until Sunday in the Square. I also stopped by an outdoor street event in the Art district (close to the Museum) and returned that night to a pub to watch some India vs. NZ cricket. I was told I needed to check it out from Bryan Plummer, a close friend from high school who spent some time in India. I had little idea of the rules of the game, and it must have been

Lyttleton's main drag

I was tempted to do a pub crawl but it would be over too soon...

obvious. A local approached me with beer in hand and said "do you have any clue what's going on?" To which I replied honestly. He sat down and explained the game to me in a few sentences, and it all seemed to make sense... I caught the tail end of the game, and New Zealand lost. I don't know if I could get excited about the game, but I'll give it another chance. Maybe it would help if I had a few more beers. 😊

I also ran into a guy on Manchester Street that I had played hockey with in Toronto. It was one of those moments that makes the world feel that much smaller. I felt a solid punch to the shoulder, and at first I didn't recognize him at all. I thought he was just the local staggering drunk looking for a fight, but it was just another Canadian saying hello to an old friend! It was good to see him, and we swapped numbers. He and his fiance invited me to stay at their place on the Gold Coast in Australia. I plan to stop by!

The day before I left I visited Sumner

Banks Peninsula Scenery

Beach. It was good to get out of the city for a while, but I think I picked the windiest day of the week. I set up shop on the beach about 40 feet from the water to chill out and work on my horrible tan, but the wind was throwing so much sand at me it wasn't very fun. I went for a walk along the beach, but the water was too wet and cold to go in... I went for an ice cream suddenly ran into five Canadians at once. Some were from Oakville and others from BC. I sat down with one of them, a girl from Montreal (who was desperately missing the poutine) and an Irish girl who was joining her.

I enjoyed my time in Christchurch and area, but by the end of the nine days I had spent there it was time to move on. I found that a week is more than enough time to explore the city. I had plenty of time to be lazy about it. For anyone travelling there, I would say that two or three days is plenty. After some fruitless job searching, I decided to join Kyla

Banks Peninsula

roadside shot

McKay in Ahipara at a place called the Endless Summer Lodge, before meeting Dad in Auckland on the 18th. That story will be featured in the next post!

Again, sorry for the late posts! I will hustle to get them done more regularly!

Bye for Now!

GB

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