Last New Zealand Day

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On the morning of March 16th, we woke up in our tents to the sound of the ocean waves. After taking in one last view, we packed up our camping gear and drove from Kaikora to Christchurch, dodging sheep the whole way. We made our way to the Old Countryhouse hostel, which in truth was not so far from the downtown in spite of the name. Our first hour in the city and we were met with some remarkable luck. The hostel agreed to take our leftover fuel canisters off our hands, and gave us a spare duffle bag (which someone had left) to carry our tent and sleeping bags to Australia. Our guidebook told us that Christchurch was not quite as cosmopolitan and diverse as Wellington and Auckland, and a little more English. Well, I'm not so sure about that, since for supper we had some good sushi and bibimbap at the quaintly named Mum's restaurant.

The next day was our last in New Zealand. We had a few hours to check things out before returning the rental car and hopping on a plane to Melbourne, Australia. We opted to explore the Arts Center, housed on the old University of Canterbury campus. For me, the highlight was Rutherford's den, a small museum dedicated to the kiwi scientist in some of the rooms where he first began his experiments. We also enjoyed touring a gem store and a chocolate store. At one of the food stores, I finally asked a question that had been bugging me the whole trip: "How come all the kiwi fruit are coming from Italy?" Answer: we were simply here at the wrong time. The ladies in the shop much preferred an orange kiwi (also not in season), which New Zealand unfortunately does not export.

Our good luck from yesterday was repaid 4 times over with bad luck today! Returning to the car to put more money in the meter, I discovered a parking ticket. What I thought looked like 3 curbside parking spaces was actually only two. I had parked in the third space, in front of a gate, which frankly looked exactly like a fence (Eva agreed and was not mad at me). The ticketer was still in the area and cancelled the towing truck. If I had been a little later, I would have had my rental car towed - with our stuff in it - just hours before our flight out of the country. Worse yet, I probably would have had trouble tracking down the car since I would have thought it was stolen! Our last hour in Christchurch was spent running around town trying to pay off the parking ticket at City Hall (which was over $200 because a tow truck was called). Some people have wondered whether we could have just fled without paying the ticket, but the rental agency had our credit card so it would have been a bad idea. Anyhow, our very last experience in Christchurch and New Zealand was unfortunately unpleasant. However, overall we had a great time in New Zealand, and we will be back someday to spend more time exploring this beautiful country!

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Photos

Kiwi came back!
Eva had accidentally left her kiwi at the Moana Lodge in Wellington. The staff were nice enough to mail him to our Christchurch hostel to be reunited.

In front of the old physics building
at the former University of Canterbury

Why did the sheep cross the road?
Since this is our last NZ entry, we needed at least one picture of sheep!

Flying out on Air New Zealand!
Eva enjoying her international flight.