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Published: August 10th 2009
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Yup, thats right folks, arriving in Christchurch meant that it was the end of my time in another country of my trip. Which signals that England is drawing inexorably closer. But lets not dwell on annoying things like that, lets talk about my time in the South Island's largest city.
I arrived late after a day long bus ride from Invercargill, so had just enough time to find a nice hostel then hit the hay. This left me one proper day to explore. I spent the morning walking round the city centre, which wasn't very interesting to tell you the truth. The cathedral was... a cathedral and the city was all citylike. The only semi-interesting thing I can tell you is that the river running through the city is the Avon, sharing its name with the one flowing through Bristol. I'm sorry, I really don't know what else to say about the place. You can stop reading if you like.
With an afternoon left, I headed for the hills. Quite literally. You see, a few kilometers outside of the city centre are The Port Hills, and I figured a healthy stroll around there would give me nice views of
the Southern Alps and the Canterbury Plains. First though, I needed sustinance and the chippy provided me with plenty of that. It must have been the biggest portion of chips I've ever had, with enough for my dinner, tea later in the day and even a few left over for breakfast the next day. Quite remarkable. I should have taken a photo really.
So, The Port Hills. They did live up to their promise, and I had a very enjoyable afternoon, marching all the way up to the Summit Road, around Sugarloaf Mountain (these things seem to pop up everywhere) finally reaching the Sign of the Kiwi at around dusk. The Southern Alps possibly look more impressive from the western side, although to be fair, I was a lot closer over there than I was in Christchurch. I'd have loved to have gone up to Mt Cook, but time waits for no man. Back to the day in hand, as it was dusk I decided to stick my thumb out to get back to Christchurch rather than hike it. I was in luck, the first car that came past took me right back into the city centre. Ding dang
doo.
Back at the hostel, I had prepared myself a quite fabulous meal of sausage, egg, chips and beans when I overheard a voice behind me say "La camiseta de Boca". I happened to be wearing my Boca Juniors shirt at the time, so I kind of guessed the people were talking about me. Turns out they were an Argie and a Uruguayan in NZ on a working holiday visa. Fortunately not River Plate fans. After a couple of minutes conversation, I realised that in just a month outside of Latin America my Spanish has got a bit of rust on it. I also realised that we were in an English speaking country, so its them that should be making the effort, not me! And thats where this anecdote ends.
And thats where New Zealand ends really (for me anyway). As I flew out over the Southern Alps, I reflected back on my time here. No doubt its a beautiful country, with absolutely incredible scenery. However, travelling there didn't really excite me the way travelling in Latin America did. The culture was just too similar to what I've lived with for 22 years of my life. That said,
I did enjoy having things like proper cups of tea and baked beans again, so its swings and roundabouts really. The big downer on New Zealand for me was time. I felt so rushed. Unlike South America, where I had loads of time, so just took things at a leisurely pace, here, I had limited time with lots of things I wanted to see, and found myself moving on every couple of days. It was just too much for me, I needed a break. Luckily, one was just round the corner (over the Tasman Sea)
Stewart
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GWK1
GWK
Been busy!!
Stewart, I've just caught up on your blogs as the last one was 'no sleep til paraty' er or something ha ha....good to see u r still having fun with the blog titles....and man u've been busy ive not done a blog for a good 5 weeks. good to see the pics of the Flu Cor game again. enjoy the rest of your trip. G