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Published: March 31st 2009
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Our time in Christchurch is nearly up so I thought I would write an entry about what it's been like living like a kiwi and what it's meant to get back into a semi-normal swing of things. I have to say when we first arrived in New Zealand, the idea of getting jobs, paying rent and setting alarms was pretty daunting and if anything seemed massively dull. We both spent the first few weeks a little down in the dumps, we were both wishing we were back in Asia where everything seemed so much more exciting. There were often times when we found ourselves criticising western ways, which until a year ago was all we had known. It soon dawned on us that we had the post travelling blues, I have seen many friends come home from jaunts around the world only to come back miserable and jaded which before, was bloody annoying. How can someone be miserable when they have been off work for 6 months, a year or more and have seen so many amazing things? Now I understand. I just hope that me and Hels have got it out of our system so that when we get home
we don´t burden our friends and family with our woes. Travelling is an incredible thing and to have the opportunity to do it is even more incredible, what we have now realised, given the time to reflect on the past year is just how lucky we are. I can´t say it enough, there have been times when I have thought about what we have done and it makes me feel like the luckiest man alive. And what makes it even better is that everything we have done, we have done together.
Once we were over the fact that we were back in the western world where everything seemed all to familiar we started to enjoy ourselves again and appreciate all we have. Working back in a pub has actually been quite good fun although at times it has been hard. We both have a reasonable amount of management experience so there have been times where we have had to hold back when we thought we would have done something differently but as we have only been being paid minimum wage and we knew we wouldn´t be around for a long time we have had to let some things slide
which if we were back at our old jobs we wouldn´t. Its also been tough at times on our relationship and my sanity, for two months nearly we have been working opposite shifts with Helen working days and me on nights. And as I have said previously, there have been several occasions where I have worked through the night. Being an English style pub there is an expectation that English sport is shown, but of course when English sport is shown live in New Zealand its always at ridiculous o´clock which I can tell you takes its toll after a while - Its amazing how many people are willing to have a beer for breakfast while watching England vs Wales in the six nations.
Having said all that though it has been nice working at the Bard and we have managed to save much more money than we had set out to and have met some really nice people, who we will no doubt keep in contact with. Working in such a social environment has been handy as well for getting travelling advice and I continue to be amazed at the kindness of strangers, some of whom have offered
us places to stay if we ever find ourselves in their neck of the woods, like Chicago or Japan. We have also been bought numerous drinks from customers (which have been saved up and are going to be used this Sunday - it could be messy) who have been genuinely interested in our travelling stories and have also found how we have decided to spend our first year of marriage quite amazing. Which I agree, is. We have met some very kind people and when I look back on this part of our travelling experience it will be fondly, even if I did have to work a 13 hour shift because Helen couldn´t cope with a hangover!
Christchurch itself isn´t a bad place to live, there have been plenty of events throughout the summer to keep us entertained, its not too far from the beach, it has a great music and arts scene and is generally a pretty friendly place. The only thing that would keep me from opting for permanant recidence is its size, I´m used to English cities now and though by New Zealand standards Christchurch is a city it has much the feel of a small
town with a mentality to match. Nonetheless it is quite beautiful and has some fantastic parks and some great people, I can see why many people do choose to stay.
Having a permanant address (albeit for 3 months) has also be nice and has meant we have been able to enjoy many of things we have otherwise missed like having a cupboard full of food and being able to cook it whenever we want or having a lounge with a tv and dvd player to relax in and watch films. It has also meant we have been able to have guests over to stay which has been great and has also given us plenty of opportunities to pop down to the pub! Our visit visitor was Jess who we had met in India and last week Darren and Vicky (friends from home) came to stay. As you can imagine there were plenty of visits to the pub. (We also managed to fit in a visit to the Museum & Art gallery)
As places go. Christchurch ain´t a bad one, it has been good to us and I will remember it with a smile (mostly) and I sincerely hope
that we keep in contact with the friends we have made.
As of next Wednesday we´ll be back on the road and I really can´t wait. Our first stop is Dunedin where hopefully we´ll get to meet the penguins but before that we have our first weekend off in three months to enjoy, lets just hope we survive it.
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