Advertisement
Published: January 23rd 2007
Edit Blog Post
So we've left good old Randwick for a bit of culture and landscape. Once again, the majority of our culture however, comes from Asia. It's not that we're fascist racists, but we did need to double check that our flight to Christchurch didn't go via Indonesia. Nevertheless, OJ and Chris did manage to get in as many of their photos of pointless things as possible. Of course, as soon as we landed in Christchurch, our initial thought was, 'where's the Aquarium?'. It never occurred to Chris and OJ that all Aquariums in the world are exactly the same, and that a tin-pot Kiwi Aquarium in the tourist information centre, was probably not going to be worth the money. Even so, the words from the guidebook lured us into our first expedition in New Zealand. To be fair, we did see an actual Kiwi! The actual 'Aquarium' though was basically a couple of goldfish and a suicidal turtle trying to escape. It wasn't long before we left and decided that our best bet would be a sports bar - sorry - the 'Holy Grail Sports Bar'. A gigantic cinema styled projector with slanted seating for the stands was a perfect set up
for watching the one-day cricket. Remarkably, England beat the Kiwis - not knowing how to react, we decided to head back to the hotel for a 'Family Fortunes' double on the tele, and the Australian Open.
The next day was an absolute blinder. Not put off by the Aquarium, we head off to the actually worthwhile 'Antartic Centre'. Although probably not part of the 'official' experience, the highlight of the day was a kid called Angus. Angus unfortunately had a severe case of ADHD - even worse than Chris's. Sitting in the flimsy Antartic penguin bus with this kid was worrying. Especially when his mother nominated him to sit next to the driver. Bottles flung left, right and centre, which practically caused a crash was unsettling - surely the chances of him getting back on the bus at the same time as us on the way back were slim? Oh dear Angus. So, besides Angus it was a fun day out. There was an Antartic experience in the freezing cold with simulated blizzards, and best of all, a ride on the Haglund! So, in the safety briefing it is advised not to go on the ride if you have
On the Haglund!
What a lovely couple. a nervous disposition, but for some reason, it is fine for a 'too small to be strapped in' kid with a half eaten Calippo ice lolly and her brother with a glass bottle to get on?! It was OK though as Chris held onto OJ's hand.
That evening we were spoilt by the company of Michael and Kim Keyse. A tour of beautifully crafted Christchurch was followed by our first home made meal in months. Hopefully, we will see them again at the end of our tour in the South Island. So, having been indoctrinated by the local preacher in the town centre (he thought he was God - literally), we booked our coach for Lake Tekapo. As with all our travelling methods, there is always time to thank the Asians for textbook moments of comedy. The coach stopped for a short break in some random town, and so a few minutes before it was scheduled to leave again, the driver needed to nudge the coach forward. As the Asians were busy photographing the dead pidgeon that was wiped out by our coach moments before, all were screaming, shouting and running up the road with their cameras falling on
the floor, thinking the coach was off. Luckily for them though, a statue of a cow nearer the coach now, was ample opportunity for a ridiculously pointless photo - why not take a picture of the real cows two yards the other way?? Even so, the joke, 'I didn't know you had a sister?' was exchanged regularly.
We arrived in Lake Tekapo and it was a seriously beautiful sight. The landscape and scenary was incredible, but OJ lounging on the bench without his top was pretty amazing. We went for a walk and found the the only monument in the area was of a dog (yes the sister joke was made again). Quite sad, that the Takepo people worship a dog (for some reason it is so important to the agriculture in the area), so in the end, Chris and OJ replaced the statue with ones of themselves. We had a leisurely and calm couple of days in Takepo, before heading further south to a more lively place, Wanaka (I'm sure they mispelt the name).
Of course, the coach journey provided us with another blog moment. A lonely, middle-aged, ferrett-faced fidget was positioned perfectly in front of Chris.
The Penguin Express
Angus is eyeing it up... The whole journey was him on his hands and knees, either trying to touch up Chris, or more likely look for his contact lenses and his dissected watch. Chris looked on unimpressed, as OJ lapped up the opportunity to laugh at Chris's angry looking face. We arrived in Wanaka and were about to get our first taste of some extreme sports. So, after a gripping game of 'rock, paper, scissor', we booked ourselves on a high speed jet boat in the lake. Having booked it, we casually went and got some ice-cream, and Chris decided to announce something to OJ and the people of Wanaka. With his vanilla ice-cream spilling over him like a child, Chris states, 'I'm with a gay bloke'. Slightly taken aback, OJ now realised why Chris had always been so keen to break into bathroom and see him in the shower. Anyway, slightly side-tracking from our travels, the jet-boat was great fun. You see, it didn't really matter if you urinated in your shorts in fear, as the splash water hid it well. OJ didn't get so lucky in trying to pass off a log as a bit of mud from the stone lined lake -
Chris's Body?
What did OJ tell you... 19-15 to OJ.
Off to Queenstown tomorrow and OJ will desperately try and persuade Chris to skydive. Not saying that OJ will, but you'll have to wait until the next blog to find out... Oooh.
xxx OJ and Chris xxx
PS. LEAVE COMMENTS YOU LAZY READERS. Also, Chris has had a cold now for a couple of weeks and sneezes every three minutes... OJ kept telling him to stop trying it off with cows and sheep, which should stop the cold, but he's getting really desperate now.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.032s; cc: 10; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0402s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
The Bridgemaster...
non-member comment
Where are all the bridges?
I am hereby making a formal request for more bridge photos.... I am yet to see a "chris on a bridge" photo throughout your whole expidition... I'm not angry - just disappointed. Regards Bridgemaster (The Elder)