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  Christchurch, New Zealand
Thursday, August 10, 2006

Christchurch is a small but likeable city, there is not all that much to do but it has been a good base for me to plan my trip around NZ. I am staying at Stonehurst Backpackers on Gloucester St. The dorm I am in is a tiny 4-bed room that feels a bit like a pre-fab, the bunks are really shit. For example, I arrived around 1am and checked in, the guy on reception said that he was putting me in a 4b dorm and that there were 3 people there already so I would probably get a top bunk. When I went in the dorm I noticed that there was a bottom bunk free, I said great until I realised why it was free. The distance between the top and bottom bunk is not much so it is awkward to get into and you cannot sit up or in some cases turn without bashing off the top bunk. Aside from the room (room 46, have not seen the other rooms) the kitchen is excellent, the staff are very friendly and are great to make travel bookings with. The common areas are good and the showers are fine.

Today I visited 2 fine NZ establishments; Pak N Save (my new favourite supermarket, try the meat loaf!!) and Warehouse (like K-Mart but NZ owned). I burned rather a lot of cash today - $928 Magic Bus (Spirit of NZ - 30% off too!), Hiking boots $250 (bargained the guy down from $300) and I booked a bus to Methven. Methven is a small town near Mt. Hutt and a popular base for skiers. I go there tommorrow and hope to get 3-5 days snowboarding done. This is going to eat a lot of my NZ budget but I am prepared to forego Bungy Jumping and Sky-Diving to do as much boarding as I can.

I hit a few bars last night with 2 English guys I met in the hostel, one of which was completely wankered by the time we left the hostel. We went to The Grumpy Mole, $3 beers on Weds and then to Coyotes and back to the Mole. One difference about the bars over here is as long as you can standup and don't look like you will start a fight, then they will let you in regardless of how pissed you are. For example, Joe (completely wankered) is asked if he has been drinking to which he responded by explaining how cold it was, completely avoiding the question and he was let in, hehe..

Some other observations; what is it with all the massage parlours and hookers, I was not expecting this and beside most massage parlours are these hemp shops selling party pills! Apparently these are derivitives of speed and completely legal over here! Weed is not legal. Oh and the PM is a dike (no offence to dikes, sorry Sarah if you are reading this) which shows NZ's liberal attitude which is kinda cool.

Next stop Methven, whahey..

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