Sunday, January 13, 2008
Christchurch - Dec 24-26
When you're traveling to the South Island of New Zealand, Christchurch is an obvious starting point because this is where you'll most likely fly into. And, for me, even though this was a trip to get away from the city, I figured I could stand to see the town for a day or two. I booked a hotel for the first night (Dec 24) just north of the CBD and I also had one booked in Christchurch for the last night of the trip (Jan 5) so that I could easily get to my flight on the 6th. The days in between these two were a free for all.
I quickly realized that there's not much to do around Christchurch. It has some great parks - especially along the river - and some good restaurants and cafes but it's a very quiet town and at first I wasn't very impressed with it. The river was intersting; very slow, only 20-30 feet across but seemed that 3ft was as deep as it got. The river was lined with weeping willows (my favorite tree) and grass where you can sit and read or have a picnic and you can even go for a gondola ride.
The next day (Dec 25) I packed up my gear and walked the 5km to the train station. I was only using buses, trains, and walking for this trip, I wasn't going to rent a car, and even though I thought the train would be a nice way to get to my next destination, Arthur's Pass, it was 75 dollars more. Ouch. But while trying to purchase my bus ticket online while still in Australia I was told (by the website's lack of having a Dec 25 ticket) that the bus didn't run on Christmas. But I really wanted to get to AP as soon as possible so I looked into the train, which let me buy a ticket for Dec 25. The train was leaving around 8 and I got there about 15 minutes early but as I was walking up the station looked awfully quiet. And the parking lot was practically empty. And the doors were blocked by carts. Hmmm. I walked onto the platform and thought that they'll really have to move to get this place open and everyone checked in for the train. But I started to have the feeling that I wasn't going to make it to Arthur's Pass today. I took out my ticket and in about 4 pt font I was informed that my ticket was for Dec 26. Merry Christmas. Now, I know for a fact that I put in Dec 25th but it must have just given me the next day (I probably glanced over the confirmation page).
I woke up to the worst sound possible - rain. I was hoping that I could do some hiking today once I got to Arthur's Pass, especially since I was already a day behind, but this was not going to make that very easy. I had arranged for a shuttle to pick me up (free) and bring me to the train station in the morning, I checked in and was assigned a seat. I dropped my pack onto the luggage car and went to find my seat.. which was occupied by an old woman who was part of a tour. I told her my problem (that being that she was in my seat) and said that I would gladly switch seats with her but she had no idea where she was supposed to sit. After talking to the tourguide I was put in a seat with an older couple and their granddaughter from the UK. We talked for a little bit but they mostly just let me sit and read, which was all I wanted to do anyway.
The next stop will be Arthur's Pass...
I didn't have any problems getting on my flight even with waking up at 4:45am to get to the airport by tram and bus. I even got through customs in New Zealand with my hiking boots and tent without any issues - they did take them into the other room to clean them up for me, which was nice of them. A shared shuttle to my hotel for just 20 dollars (I later learned that there are much cheaper ways to get to the city) and I was checking into my aparment style hotel room. This is easy.
But it's Christmas Eve afternoon and I have some business to take care of before I can catch my train to Arthur's Pass tomorrow morning at 8. I need food for camping and some gas for my stove (obviously I couldn't take this on the plane). One problem is that I have a European stove that was bought in the States and I'm not sure if they carry that brand - but one question at the second outdoors store puts a gas container in my hand and there's a grocery store down the street where I geared up with dried fruit, real fruit, bread, cheese, some instant rice and I was on my way. Now I can start having a look around Christchurch.
I quickly realized that there's not much to do around Christchurch. It has some great parks - especially along the river - and some good restaurants and cafes but it's a very quiet town and at first I wasn't very impressed with it. The river was intersting; very slow, only 20-30 feet across but seemed that 3ft was as deep as it got. The river was lined with weeping willows (my favorite tree) and grass where you can sit and read or have a picnic and you can even go for a gondola ride.After wandering the town and dinner at a vegetarian restaurant on Colombo St I made my way back to the hotel and watched a movie or two until it was pretty late and I wanted to get some sleep. But then around midnight they had a show on the Flight of the Conchords; a singing comedy group from New Zealand, which I originally heard of through Kelly. I hear they have a new show on HBO and they are hilarious - highly recommended. But I forced myself to shut it off and went to sleep.
The next day (Dec 25) I packed up my gear and walked the 5km to the train station. I was only using buses, trains, and walking for this trip, I wasn't going to rent a car, and even though I thought the train would be a nice way to get to my next destination, Arthur's Pass, it was 75 dollars more. Ouch. But while trying to purchase my bus ticket online while still in Australia I was told (by the website's lack of having a Dec 25 ticket) that the bus didn't run on Christmas. But I really wanted to get to AP as soon as possible so I looked into the train, which let me buy a ticket for Dec 25. The train was leaving around 8 and I got there about 15 minutes early but as I was walking up the station looked awfully quiet. And the parking lot was practically empty. And the doors were blocked by carts. Hmmm. I walked onto the platform and thought that they'll really have to move to get this place open and everyone checked in for the train. But I started to have the feeling that I wasn't going to make it to Arthur's Pass today. I took out my ticket and in about 4 pt font I was informed that my ticket was for Dec 26. Merry Christmas. Now, I know for a fact that I put in Dec 25th but it must have just given me the next day (I probably glanced over the confirmation page).
I wasn't upset but a little disappointed that I had to spend another day in Christchurch. Also a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to find a place to stay since it was Christmas. It was still a little early to start going door to door so I was going to scope out an area close to the station for a hotel and then hang out in the park. On my way I had some people when they saw me walking down the street with my huge backpack come out of their house wave and say, "Merry Christmas." I passed a few hotels with 'vacancy' signs and headed to the park to read for a couple of hours. The first place had plenty of rooms and they gave me the biggest room that they had for just $90. I'll take that. But can I find anything to do in town if it's Christmas?
I spent a lot of the day reading in the botanic garden. A lot of kiwis were there for a Christmas picnic or a walk or a bike ride. Botanic gardens are very popular in cities on this side of the world and I would rank Christchurch's as one of the best. It's not as big as Sydney's or varied as Melbourne's but the trees that they had were enough to keep me there for hours.
Eating on Christmas was next to impossible; every place that was open seemed to have a limited menu, which didn't include their normal vegetarian options. I grabbed some fries and a drink at a cart in Cathedral Sq and hoped for something else a little later. I found a Chinese restaurant by my hotel that gave me a huge serving of fried rice and 12 springrolls (12!) for just $9 and that was going to do me for the night as well as breakfast the next day. Another night of movies on tv put me to sleep and ready to head to Arthur's Pass the next day.
I woke up to the worst sound possible - rain. I was hoping that I could do some hiking today once I got to Arthur's Pass, especially since I was already a day behind, but this was not going to make that very easy. I had arranged for a shuttle to pick me up (free) and bring me to the train station in the morning, I checked in and was assigned a seat. I dropped my pack onto the luggage car and went to find my seat.. which was occupied by an old woman who was part of a tour. I told her my problem (that being that she was in my seat) and said that I would gladly switch seats with her but she had no idea where she was supposed to sit. After talking to the tourguide I was put in a seat with an older couple and their granddaughter from the UK. We talked for a little bit but they mostly just let me sit and read, which was all I wanted to do anyway.
Christchurch photos:
The next stop will be Arthur's Pass...
# posted by Keith @ 1:30 PM 
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Dude, the FofC DVDs from the HBO show have been out since November, but Netflix has told me I have a "very long wait" the entire time. I think they have one copy floating around. One more week before I write my angry letter. (And yes, I live in Hawaii and am still complaining about inadequate DVD delivery - no matter how warm it is in paradise, it still gets dark at 1800, so there's plenty of time to watch tv).
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