Friday 30th April 2004, Day 230/366 - Christchurch, New Zealand.
All Smiles again
For the 1st time in a while I managed to get a trouble with nights sleep having put alot of my issues to rest. I had a long lie this morning, which probably wasn't the most sensible thing to do as I have to go to bed early in preparation for my early departure tomorrow. I had a very civilized breakfast of Eggs Benedict with Ham and then caught up with my Internetting.
I took a walk down to the cinema and found myself not feeling awkward. I was making eye contact with people and I even felt the corners of my lips beginning to turn up, almost like smiling. This is the conduct becoming a miserable twat.
I watched Starsky and Hutch, it's only opened today in NZ. The film is funny and enjoyable, but I think if you've seen the trailer then you've basically seen the film.
I am getting very worried about myself. There was a time when I couldn't walk passed a Sports Store. Well now I can't walk passed a book store. I bought another 2 books today. 'Stupid White Men' by Michael Moore and the first Harry Potter. Yes I am the only one who hasn't read it. Both second hand BTW. My backpack is absolutely crammed with books.
Must go to sleep now. Yeah right!
Bloo's Guide to New Zealand - for what's it's worth
I was right, there is more to NZ than Bungy jumping and you're sadly mistaken if that's the only reason that you come here.
The North Island has rolling hills all over. The highlights for me were, 'Cedar Lodge', The Bay of Islands, The Bay of Plenty, The Coromandel Peninsula, Taupo, Rotorua, Mount Maunganui and Hawkes Bay. The North is the smaller of the 2 islands and contains 3/4 of the population. It feels overcrowded in relation to the south. Of course it is nothing of the sort.
The South is an Island of contrast with stunning mountains on the West Coast and the flat plains of Canterbury. The highlights for me were Christchurch, the Kaikoura Coastline, Arthur's Pass, Lewis Pass, the South Scenic Route, Mount Cook, Queenstown, Oamaru...... I could go on and on. I loved it all. I love New Zealand.
On either island you can guarantee stunning views, nice people and a good atmosphere.
Christchurch is the best city that I've visited. It's size is managable. There is no hustle and bustle, theres good public transport, nice people, culture, historic buildings, Botanical gardens, all the amenities you'd expect in a city and within a very short drive you have stunning scenary. Christchurch feels like it could be home, but I'd have to vacation in Hawaii.
Don't get me wrong. NZ is not without it's problems, but they are far outweighed by the good things. It's not even close. They're not in the same race.
The Maori word for New Zealand is 'Aotearoa'. It means 'Land of the Long White Cloud'. I think it sums the country up nicely. I don't know of anywhere else where you see so much sky. Everywhere you look is breathtaking.
Getting around
The main carriageways are single lane carriageways with the occassional passing lane, but the traffic is so light that driving is a comparative delight. I've never been held up, apart from break downs and sand pit digging. Watch out for the stupid rule about having the right of way if you are turning right and the car coming towards you is turning left. Stooopid.
Car - I bought a car. I lost quite a lot of money on it, but if your wise (unlike me) and here for a long time, then this will be your cheapest way to go. You can buy in the auctions or there are notices everywhere in internet cafes and hostels advertising cars for sale. You could also hitch everywhere if you wanted. Apparently NZ is hitcher friendly. Hire cars are relatively cheap for short periods.
Campervan - Like the cars you can pick campervans up really cheaply and sell them on easily. There are lots of places to put up for the night.
Plane - There is a good network of flights that work out relatively cheaply (if you say that you are resident in New Zealand.
Ferry - Only way to get between the North and the South Island. Expensive so don't make the trip too often. If you can buy your wheels in Auckland and sell in Christchurch and fly between them
Coach and Train - I took neither of these means of transport. There's certainly a good network of buses.
Kiwi Experience or magic Bus - You can if you like take the Kiwi Experience which basically arrange all your transport and accomodation for you. It kind of takes away the reason for travelling and they look a bit like the sunshine bus when they turn up at places, but I'm sure they are good fun and a good way to meet people, if you're a bit younger.
Places to Stay
Every place you go to large or small has a good selection of accommodation, from camp sites, Motels and Hostels to Hotels. The hostels here are setup for travellers. All the information you need is on tap. American hostels weren't, although some of them tried (bless them). Everyone who is staying in the hostel is a traveller, they are no convicted felons or people running away from there state. I mean obviously there are, but you know what I mean. I tended to stay in YHA hostels, but there are a couple of other organisations (BBH) that gather together the information for the independantly owned hostels. All the hostels have all the facilities you need and don't smell (much). The good thing about staying within an organisation is that they will book all your accomodation with you. The dorms tend to be for between 4 to 8 people, not normally more. You can also get double rooms or family rooms in some hostels. Camping will cost around $10-$12 pp, hostels will cost $18-$22 pp and motels and hotels are upwards of that.
Eating Out
There are lots of nice cafes and bars that serve decent fare. The food isn't excessive and is normally freshly cooked. You can always eat in MacDonald's or KFC or Burger King or Pizza Hut, but I'm proud to say that I haven't. You must try the fish and chips (fush and chups) over here. English Fish and chips are nothing to Kiwi ones. Everything is always fresh and very cheap aswell. Luvly.
Kiwi People
They are lovely, genuine people. Very trusting, prehaps naively so, but maybe that's because I come from a cynical country. It's very pleasant that they will come out and fill your car with petrol and clean your windows. They won't accept a tip. Nobody will take it, not your hairdresser, your taxi driver, your waitress, no one. It's lovely. Everyone you encounter will engage you in conversation and mean it. None of the 'Have a nice day' through a fake smile. They have a great attitude to life. Be warned though, they don't muck about. They'll tell you how it is.
Learning the lingo
English - Kiwi
Yes - Yis
Bed - Bid
Ten - Tin
Head - Hid
Shit - Sheet
Reckon - Rickon
Said - Sid
Dad - Did
Seven - Sivin
You get the general idea. Add that to raising your tone at the end of every sentence to make every thing sound like a question and then answer all questions with 'Yeah, no' then you'll be a Kiwi in no time at all.
