Christchurch

On the way to Christchurch from Nelson, we made a slight detour to visit the town of Picton. Picton is basically the town you go to when you need to take the ferry to the north island. It did have some coffee shops and a small little village, but it was very industrialized besides that. We stopped to stretch our legs, get a bite to eat, and enjoy the warm sea air. Now, I believe that everything is meant to happen for a reason... and this is a prime example. After our coffee break we decided to run into a clothing store that was having a big sale. If we hadn't gone into that store, we would have left 5 minutes earlier and I wouldn't have seen my friend from HOBY, Chris Fahner, when we were driving out of town. It was SOOO crazy... I'm driving out of town and I see these three people walking down the sidewalk, and one of them is Chris. Now, I knew he was studying in NZ for the semester, but we hadn't contacted each other about getting together. How CRAZY is that?! Even if I was 30 seconds later, I would have missed him. I stopped the car and jumped out, and it was nice to catch up with him for a bit! Especially because HOBY is coming right around the corner and I'm missing everyone from it!!

After Picton we kept driving down through more wine country towards Christchurch. Christchurch was definitely the biggest city we had been to, and it was clearly apparent from the roads we were driving on. They were no match for Emma's directions though, as she got us right into the city and right to our hostel.

It turns out the Christchurch ended up being my favorite place in NZ. Before we got there I would have said Queenstown or Wanaka, but once we made it to CHC... I knew. Our hostel was located RIGHT SMACK DAB in the middle of the art district which provided for very interesting statues everywhere, museums, and live music everywhere. Across the street from our hostel was an outdoor market which sold food on Friday, and crafts on the weekend. I think we walked through the market every day, whether to look at the crafts, or to hear the musician that was performing that day. On Saturday we went and walked through the botanical gardens that were less than a block from our hostel. Even though it was fall, they were still very pretty! In the gardens we stumbled upon a rose garden with over 100 different species of roses. They were all in full bloom and it was such an incredible sight. It reminded me of my Great Uncle Claude... seems like something he would LOVE to see.

That evening we went back to our hostel and had some dinner and then, like every night that weekend, met up with our friends from Queenstown. Two of the guys who we met lived in a flat right in the center of CHC near Cathedral Square. They lived above two bars, which was always interesting because you had to walk through the back "outside area" of the ground floor bar, to get to their stairs. We always seemed to feel like VIPs. Once I was walking in and the bouncer grabbed me by my shoulder and all I said was "I live here..." I was let go. haha. It was really fun to get back in touch with these guys because they actually knew CHC and could tell us where to go and whatnot. Their flat was full of international people. Some studying, some working, and some just living. It was incredibly interesting to chat with people from England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and other countries. I think there was only one Kiwi(nz) person there. We went out with them Friday and Saturday nights to this cool club called Boogie Nights. They played disco and 80s music, and it was so fun to dance to. We also went to a great Irish Pub... the band there played the BEST music. I think I knew every song they played. There was one from "P.S. I Love You" one from "Waking Ned Devine" and one from the Irish party scene in "Titanic." All in all, they showed us a great weekend, and we loved hanging out with them. It was great to say we actually had friends in New Zealand. Which we truly did, we even ran into them during the day at the grocery store and at the craft market.

On Sunday we started off at the market and then we all went to the museum down the road to look at the art. Some of those paintings were centuries old and they looked like photographs, the details were so remarkable... I was stunned. There was also heaps of modern art, which I really enjoyed as well. As we were leaving a Salvation Army band was playing outside of the museum, and I sat and listened to them for probably close to an hour. It was a perfectly warm and sunny day to sit and listen to a band. That afternoon Emma, Lauren, and I went "punting" down the Avon River. Basically this is like the gondolas in Venice... but with a German guy, and on a much smaller river. The couple sitting behind us was from the north island and they kept chatting up the punter. One question they asked him, was if he ever got stuck in the river (it was only like 1-2 feet deep). To which he replied: "The only time I ever got stuck was when I had a boatload of McDonald's Loving, Fat Americans." Lauren and I laughed, and kept out mouths shut... until they were all discussing the cost of universities in their countries. I turned around and said: "In AMERICA we pay nearly $40K a year." The reply from the punter was: "Sorry for my McDonald's comment." I thought it was funny, but it's an example of how much of the world looks at American with complete disdain. Such is life.

That night we went to our friends' flat to watch a movie, and then we called it an early night before we flew home on Monday. It was so bittersweet to leave. I absolutely LOVED New Zealand, and getting on a plane to go back to TOOWOOMBA, wasn't really what I wanted to be doing. However, at the same time, I wanted to get back and see everyone else that had gone up to Cairns for break. It was nice to chat with them and exchange stories about our trips. I already can't wait to go back to NZ. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life and the people, as a whole, are so incredibly nice, easy going, and laid back. It's just such a positive and happy atmosphere everywhere you go!