Blogs from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 154

Last week was my first week of work. Things went really well. The people that I work with are nice and the restaurant is right next door to the hostel where I am staying. I work with a girl called Allison who is from Seattle and we have become instant friends. It is good to talk to someone else from the Northwest and, dare I say, from the US. Kiwis are very friendly, but cliquey so it takes a while to break down that barrier meaning, as of yet, I have very few Kiwi friends. Sunday was a beautiful day so after work Allison invited me to go to one of the beaches near Christchurch with her and her boyfriend Kevin (who also happens to be from Seattle). Seeing as I hadn't been out of the ... read more

After The Asylum i headed into Dunedin, a moderately large city (by New Zealand standards), where i parted ways with the germans. We had a good night out on the town, after which they moved onto Christchurch. I chose to head out to the Otago Peninsular, an outcrop of land nextdoor to the city renowned for its wildlife. The plan was to check out some iccle blue penguins. However, the weather was kind of lame and my hostel about 10km away from where the penguins emerge nightly from the ocean after a hard day of bobbing around and catching fishy treats. So, unfortunately, i saw no penguins. I went on a very windy bikeride up to the top point of the peninsular, the only mainland nesting site for Albatross in the whole wide world. The site ... read more

Hi folks! yes we are still alive, sorry for the radio silence but I'll blame it on having too good a time and capricious internet connections... Well, last you heard of us we had just been dolphin swimming - great - but we have seen more of the great things NZ has! We then left for Christchurch to meet up with our friends Tim and Les in their beautiful new house in Redcliffs on the hills off the Banks Peninsula, the only non flat bit on the Canterbury Plain. tim and Les had left us their "Mu", ie their 4x4 and Scott had a great time driving it on the roads to Akaroa, a little village in the middle of the Banks Peninsula, which had been settled by ... the French at about the same time ... read more

Being away from home during Thanksgiving isn't that bad, there are just certain things you miss. I missed family of course, but often it's the little things that you think about the most--for me this was pumpkin pie and green bean casserole. Two very American dishes that are had to replicate anywhere outside the US just because it's hard to get your hands on the right ingredients. My Thanksgiving went well. I saw the new Harry Potter movie and then cooked dinner for two English girls, Natalie and Catherine, that were staying in the hostel. Natalie works with me making beds and Catherine was some random person Natalie and I met while making beds who we invited to dinner. It was a unique Thanksgiving to say the least. Things are going much better than last week. ... read more

Expect anything with a 6:00 a.m. arrival in Christchurch, New Zealand. The hotel clerk really did greet us in her teddy bear flannel PJs when we arrived at the hotel. Just one more charming aspect of this delightful city. It is spring here and the trees and flowers are beautiful. The weather has been unpredictable - sunny, hot, windy, rainy, cold, and as the Kiwis love to say "Fine!". The free intercity bus system is a great way to get around the city and see all the sights. The city is user friendly and very clean. The Santa Claus parade was last Sun. and seemed strange amidst all the spring flowers. Tomorrow, 11/28, we plan to attend the John Fogerty concert at their Convention Center Concert Hall. Last Wed, 11/23, we took the scenic train across ... read more