Maybe I'll start by saying that from now on we'll provide the link to our facebook photo albums & video on these posts and enable them for all to see so that even those who haven't signed up to facebook will be able to view them. We'll still put a few pic's up to illustrate the story on blogger, it's just a lot quicker on facebook and time means money when it comes to using the internet on your travels.
It was sad to leave Sydney & our friends there for the second time but that was at least counter-balanced somewhat this time by the anticipation of exploring a new country. It would have been so so easy to pick up where we left off in Sydney, to drop into the city a few times, put out a few feelers for work etc. However, for all that this isn't beyond the realms of possibility again in the future, it would have felt wrong to once again miss out on seeing New Zealand.
Our port of entry was Christchurch, the capital of the South Island, a city approximately the size of Southampton. Christchurch has been described by several people and books as the most English of New Zealand's cities. You'd have thought the natural comparison for us to make would be with Southampton, however having just been back to Sydney we found ourselves primarily aware of the substantial contrast between Christchurch & Sydney, probably in turn reading that into the contrast between New Zealand and Australia.
Whereas Sydney (or at least the parts of it we frequented), is clean, shiny and modern, Christchurch looks a little run down and faded . For instance a lot of the houses look in need of a new coat of paint, however rather than seeming shabby or grimy, we simply found the place unassuming. Sydney is a fantastic place, when partaking in a couple of beers at the Manly wharf bar on a sunny Sunday afternoon the joy and the buzz of the people living and visiting there is practically a tangible part of the atmosphere. If you have to be picky however, you could say that in parts it can be maybe a little bit showy, nothing bad, simply that's it's easy to feel uncool in Sydney (and out of shape if you take a stroll down Manly beach). Christchurch is a bit more grungy and I guess in someways a bit more “down to earth”
Maori dancers on Cathedral Square
Despite numerous shopping trips into "the city" in Christchurch I can't recall seeing more than two or three people in suits. They must be there, Westpac and the other major banks etc.. all have large offices, maybe they all dress down ? Even in the city there are several large second hand or "recycled" clothes shops, handy places when you're a penny pinching traveller. It's refreshing in a way to see, I remember reading an article in the UK before we left about how thriftiness is no longer considered a virtue, people aren't respected for the way they save money. We exist in a society where we are encouraged to buy everything new (on finance preferably), and we're not to try and fix it when it breaks but throw it away and buy a new replacement like the good little consumers that the establishment likes us all to be.
There must be money around, it just isn't on display in Christchurch, we didn't notice a single BMX X5 or Merc ML etc.
The historic tram on it's daily meander around the city centre
It's often joked or stated that both Australia & New Zealand are ten years “behind” the UK. It's true in Christchurch that wheelie bins and post codes have both only been introduced in the last couple of years, something that'd probably make most of us Brit's grin sympathetically and go “ah those crazy kiwi's they'll get there in the end” or something similarly patronising. Behind in what sense though? They're not behind in conserving their environment (DOC, or department of conservation is hugely powerful compared to it's UK counterpart), nor in providing a generally safe and non-violent social setting for kids to grow up in. They're certainly not behind in making their way out of recession. Just because they don't all own an Audi (sorry Rob, Andy et all, nothing personal!) and a 42” Plamsa screen TV doesn't mean they're any further forward or behind us in the UK. Just a saying that seems a bit pompous once you think about it.
Christchurch occupies a great location for outdoors enthusiasts. New Brighton beach stretches for miles and can be reached in ten minutes from the city centre, better surfing is found at Sumner, a beach suburb twenty min's from the centre with a nice longboard wave. In the winter you can be Ski-ing on Mount Hutt within two hours or even sooner of you go to some smaller local ski-fields.
The view of Christruch as seen from the head past Sumner
I'll stop harping on about Christchurch for now, we liked it & found it a unassuming, easy to get to grips with sort of place. It is certainly very english in appearance, down to the sparrows and starlings that seem the most common birds, so depending on your outlook if you're coming straight from the UK you could find it either comfortingly homely or disappointingly unexotic.
Our home in Christchurch for the first week was Drifter's backpackers. Believe it or not despite being hardened travellers this was the very first time we'd stayed in a bona fide backpackers or hostel. We've always been put off by the thought of being stuck in a tiny room with a centimetre thick partition separating us from a dorm full of 20 year old Scandinavian backpackers whose idea of travel was throwing up the local brew at three am and seeing how loud they can shout at each other when others are trying to sleep.(I hate them, I really do, I always thought Brit's were the worst but as the Falaraki crowd don't make it this far normally groups of young scandi's take that dubious honour hands down)
Drifters
Drifters is run by a very nice English couple and their two dogs, Flash & Chippy. We'd decided to try and minimise our contact with the aforementioned large young scandi groups by a) choosing somewhere NOT in the lonely planet and b) somewhere at least fifteen minutes walk outside the town centre bars etc. It worked, Drifters was great and it opened our eyes to the fact that actually backpacker's are a useful place to stop into every now and again. There's a lot of information there and they're a good place catch up with like-minded people.
Travelling isn't always about beach parties and banana pancakes , this is what our list of things to do looked like by the time we got to Christchurch:
Open a NZ bank Account
Apply for a NZ tax reference
Locate & purchase campervan (major issue with a page of subpoints all to itself)
Locate and purchase camping/trekking gear (stoves, sleeping bag, waterproofs etc..)
Purchase all of above a lowest possible cost
See if we could get an introductory appointment with the immigration people
Check our medical insurance status /register for local medical care
Work out where we were going to go to next
work out what to do with our lives!
Buying the van was the main issue, as soon as we had our van we could start the trip. We were looking for something with a bit more space then the normal backpacker van's and took the bus out to the suburbs to see a pop-top Toyota Hiace. We spent about forty minutes looking round the van and test driving with a pleasant retired kiwi couple. They were looking to sell the van as she was suffering from arthritis as needed a bit more manoeuvring space inside.” Yeah we've been looking at a Ford Courier conversion up near Rangiora but need to sell this first” said Dennis the guy, a this stage Charl & I looked at each other knowing full well we were going out to see this same vehicle later in the evening. Hmm to say something or not to say something ? No need for any tension we thought so we kept silent. We were on the verge of getting Dennis's van as it was an amazing vehicle but at $11k was at the top end of our budget and lacking a little bit of storage space. Twelve hours later we had a deposit down on the aforementioned Ford, sorry Dennis, if by some fluke you ever read this. We feel really really guilty but it was us who pinched the van you're after and we really hope you find something else you and your lovely wife feel comfortable in.
We were now the proud owners of a 1985 ford Courier motorhome conversion, that's right – officially we are in the motorhome category! Having spent a couple of days trawling the cheap shops for camping & hiking gear our next move was to go for a trial run, spend a few days out in the van then come back to Christchurch and pick up anything we might have forgotten about. Luckily for us the Banks Peninsula seemed the ideal place and is located a mere forty five minutes outside the city limits.
Like a miniature version of the Yorkshire dales or Brecon Beacons squeezed into a smallish peninsula and bordered by numerous coves and deserted beaches, the peninsula is a common getaway for Christchurch folk, not that we saw many people, even with it being a nice sunny weekend. Like Australia, New Zealand had a lucky and narrow escape from joining the French empire and the peninsula's main town, Akaroa, is the south islands only “french” settlement. Presumably they allow it's to continue it's existence to serve as a reminder of how close they came to a heritage of Beret's and silly accents.
Akaroa Bay
We stayed for three nights at a reserve camp, a backpackers car park and a campsite. Highlights included seeing and photographing wildcat kittens in the Okuti Scenic reserve, walking a deserted Le Bons bay on a beautiful afternoon and a particularly delicious caramel slice from a bakery in Akaroa.
Le Bons Bay
We could already see that this was going to end up a very different experience form our Australian roadtrip. In several ways this was going to be more “mainstream”. In Oz we spent most of our time off on dirt roads in the back country, when we did run into main backpacker territory, e.g. Cairns we hated it and got back off the beaten track as soon as we could. The few people we met tended to be older Australians on holiday, or of course the mandatory Germans, they get everywhere & I mean everywhere – truly it's amazing. In New Zealand we were going to be ploughing the main thoroughfare with all the other travellers and tourists alike so needed to learn to play nicely with others.
There certainly isn't going to be the pressure of covering distance. In Oz we'd often cover 300km a day without pausing to think about it. Here that would cover a significant chuck of the country. As such we going to have more flexibility with our route. Trip across the centre aside we pretty much travelled the circumference of Australia, here if we decide we want to go and see Sam on the West Coast and we're in Christchurch on the East, the trip can be covered in four hours and embarked upon as a spur of the moment decision. Indeed we've been here almost a month as I'm writing this and the trip has pretty much developed on a day to day basis with very little in the way of forward planning, it' s an enjoyably different experience.
And of course this time there's no return ticket as of yet. As we travel we're keeping an eye out, could we live here ? how much is property? what business opportunities are available ? It's an open ended trip which is going to grow organically and not knowing where it's going to finish up is part of the beauty of it.
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(Full-moon on Koh Pha Ngan - our other commitments prevented / saved us from the party in Had Rin)
