Christchurch
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2007
1
27
48
Trip End
Dec 24, 2007
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Roland told me that Christchurch reminded him of England. I can see what he meant. It's blooming cold. On Wednseday evening, I agreed to look round the city with a strongly built German woman, who was one of my room-mates at the hostel, the next morning.. I knew that this was a mistake when I was woken up by a series of sharp prods at 6.30 on Thursday morning. I looked up to find the German woman standing over me, dressed in combats, and barking:
"Come on
Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch
. We go."I tried to get out of it by playing dead, but I had already turned over so it didn't work. So I pretended to be nearly dead. This did work - sort of. She let out an exasperated sigh and walked off without saying anything else. I have avoided her since.
Christchurch is pretty chilled out too though - I spent Thursday wandering round the huge botannical gardens and down by the river. This did mean that by Friday I'd run out of things to do though.
I had a of minor problem at the restaurant I went to on the first night. I picked it because I noticed it had free newspapers which you could read with your meal - always a good idea when you're travelling on your own. I feel a bit uncomfortable if I'm sat there on my own with nothing to do and nobody to talk to. But it was a nice restaurant as well - I settled into a quiet corner for a candle-lit dinner for one. The waitress was a bit frosty with me cos she'd asked:
"How are you finding New Zealand?"
To which I'd replied: "I like New Zealand. It's like a mini Australia." She took exception to this.
So I was calmly reading the paper when I noticed a smoky smell. This is unusual in New Zealand, because like England, smoking is banned in restaurants. I was just wondering who was smoking when the newspaper in front of me burst into flames. I'd been holding it to close to the candle - oops.
Tomorrow I get the train over to the west coast. It's supposed to be really scenic. And it's lambing season at the moment. So the fields will be full of lambs.
