Bonfire Night - Kiwi style

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Christchurch, Nov 2 - 7

We were excited to discover what Bonfire Night would be like in a different country and waited patiently at the bus station for the No.5 to take us to New Brighton Pier. When public transport and an event like fireworks night combine it's a given that chavs will appear. The station was full of scantily clad teens, dolled up to the nines and boys in too-baggy clothes and lots of gold jewellery. They were well behaved though unlike the harassed bus station staff and the regular commuters who just wanted to go home. There were threats made and effing and blinding - and that was from the staff!

After enduring the bus ride we got to the seafront which is quite a spectacular setting for a fireworks show. There was no bonfire though but there were a couple of gadgets that shot flames into the air from the pier. The pier was lit up from below in changing shades of neon and looked pretty cool. There was also a fairground and lots of vans offering greasy fried food. Pretty similar to the set up of displays at home really. We opted to try a hot dog in batter which was served on a stick and dunked in tomato sauce. These extremely phallic-looking things were pretty tricky to eat and not that nice but for pudding we shared a bag of fresh donuts - these were yummy!

It was strange to be spending fireworks night in only one layer of clothing and without gloves, hat and scarf to keep us warm. The display didn't start until after 9pm because it was still light. The fireworks were set off from the pier and it seems the Kiwi style is to just light all the buggers (this word frequently appears in the papers here) at once and watch them go. It was an amazing display. There were so many fireworks all going off at the same time that the whole sky was just full of glitter and light. There were the ubiquitous 'oohs' and 'arrs' from the crowd and the whole thing was over in 15 minutes at most.

We stayed at the Hotel So in Christchurch. I got a good deal on hotels.com and we felt ready for our own space and access to a toilet and shower without having to walk past a bunch of strangers in our PJs.

The hotel was so cool. We had read reviews that said the rooms were really tiny and they were on the small side but plenty big enough and were cleverly designed so that there was space for everything. We even had a fridge for our wine! The shower was like a spacepod transporter as it was made of glass and had doors that slid round in an oval shape. The mood lighting also meant you could shower bathed in red, blue, lilac or yellow light. Pretty cool. As we were on the pink floor of the hotel all the trimmings were pink which suited me fine. The room also had a flatscreen TV so we did spend quite a bit of time in the room but then you don't come to NZ for the cities so we didn't feel too guilty. It actually felt a bit like a mini-break being in a hotel and we ate in one of the food courts every night. They have a great selection and are really reasonably priced. I had the best satay beef and rice for $10 while Simon managed to buy his tea for $8 every night.

We also spent an enjoyable afternoon in the pub watching the Melbourne Cup. This is like the Australian version of the Grand National but over flat not jumps. We got a copy of the race meeting info and spent our time running from the bar round to the TAB (betting shop) on the next street. I managed to win $70 overall but Simon didn't get to enjoy the feeling of clutching a winning ticket and collecting money back.

We had a good time in Christchurch because it was so relaxing to just chill out. Hostels are great and cheap but it's always nice to have your own space and not worry about other people watching you sleep!

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