Waving goodbyes
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
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51
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Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Kaikoura,
New Zealand
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
We managed to trek all our gear over to our accomodation before the skies opened up. (And hardly stopped over the next few days!). After a nap, we headed out for some Mexican, and Dad & I took a short wander around the area and picked up a few grocery supplies. I am excited to say this included some Labatt's Blue! "Imported Daily".... right. Anyways it was short work to convince my dad to buy me some, gotta have that taste of home!
The next day the weather was equally crappy. We spent the afternoon in the Art Gallery, and in the evening it was finally time for my parents' introduction to the Maori culture in the form of a Tamaki Village Experience, "Lost in our own Land"
The marae
. This was completely different from the one in Rotorua- it teels of the Musket wars in the 1800's, and you actually become part of the story for the duration- you are visiting Europeans, with one tribe welcoming and protecting you, and another quite frankly scaring the shit out of you. It also takes place is this historical village set-up (which is like a tame amusement park thing during the daytime) so it really could feel like you were actually there. Then, during dinner, the actors come out all scrubbed up clean and chat with you... weird turnaround! It was a pretty good night despite, you guessed it, the constant rain. Luck they supplied ponchos :)We were happy to wake up on my 'rents final day to actually see the sun shining. We headed to the Botanical Gardens, and afterwards the Canterbury Museum where we also had lunch, before heading back to catch the shuttle to the airport. This museum is definetely worth checking out... I actually liked it better than Te Papa! (Wellington). On the way, the clouds moved in and it starting drizzling... by the time I had bade my parents goodbye and emerged back into the outdoors, it was full out freezing and I was wearing a skirt. In the evening I went to visit Jay & Kathleen at their motel, my last time to see them before they left for Asia (today). Monday was my free day in Christchurch all by my lonesome, and I have to say 3 days max is all you need in Christchurch
Battle scene
. I went back to the Cathedral to see if they were running the tower climbs, but they charged for it. Not that much but I had splashed out on a wicked pair of sandals and was in penny pinching mode. I went back to the gardens and the museum to explore the areas I hadn't seen with mom & dad (and discovered the museum has a mummy! Very cool). Then I gave up on saving money and headed to the theatre to watch 27 Dresses. I had the ENTIRE place to myself... very weird! It was good though. Tuesday I made my escape from Christchurch and bussed it back up to Kaikoura, where I am doing the highly-recommended Dolphin Swim on friday. A group of girls from the hostel headed out to the nearby pub last night for a few pints, so that was a good way to spend the evening, easing myself back into being social after not needed to really put effort in to meeting people for ages! The mountains also have some fresh snow, and my dorm room has the best view of them. How I would love to own an oceanfront property one day!!
Anyways, I'll eventually head into town which is like 2ks away. I'm just working up my appetite for lunch first! On a good note, since I was purposely not mentioning the fuss of being paid (I think?) I FINALLY rec'd my backpay yesterday, and *should* get my holiday pay soon as well! Hopefully I can have just enough to last until Australia, because the exchange rates are such a rip-off!
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