On 8th March I managed to get up at a reasonable time, though sill long after the rest of the household was up and busy. Since arriving, I’ve been quizzing Rachel’s family about the best way to see their country. To save time, I’ve decided to fly initially to South Island, see what I can in the Queenstown area in the short time available, then then head back overland, crossing by ferry back to North Island.
In the morning I rang Ansett to book a flight to Christchurch, and then Roz took me on a mini tour of Auckland. This included the aquarium which had sharks and seahorses, neither of which I’d seen before.
Then we went to a museum with an interesting Maori exhibition. A group of Maori dancers gave a “warm” welcome in the form of the Haka. I have seen the All Blacks perform this once or twice at the start of rugby matches on the TV, and it looks somewhat intimidating, especially when it’s inevitable that England are about to be thrashed! However, doing the Haka, the All Blacks really just look like rugby players putting on a choreographed show, whereas seeing it done by real live semi-clothed Maoris was rather more intimidating and impressive!
On checking the post office again, I was handed another letter at the poste restante desk, then Roz took me to pick up my air ticket from Ansett, before we headed back to the house. It being Friday, Fiona had a plan to head out to a pub with 2 other girls, and I was invited. Since there was a possibility of going to a night club later, I went as far as to actually iron the new shirt I’d bought – this was the first time I’d used an iron in years! In the end we went to a pub on the Warf and stayed there, sitting outside chatting over some beers.
Describing where I’ve been over the last few months produced a few mystified expressions. Since one meets so many young Australians and New Zealanders backpacking in different parts of the world, it’s easy to assume that everyone from “down under” is a globetrotter. But I now realise that this isn’t really the case, and that Rachel is the principal globetrotter of her family. The average young person in Auckland perhaps doesn’t have a burning desire to jump on a plane at the first opportunity to explore the world at all costs, and of course many may never have that opportunity.
In the morning (9th March) I resolved a few pending financial issues – some bank statements had arrived with the poste restante mail, and I needed to make sure funds were in the right place. Then Stuart (Rachel’s Dad) gave me a ride to the airport. Ansett was very efficient and soon I was on board a nice BAe-146 flying out over the bays and islands of North Island, heading south.
An hour later we were on final approach over green fields that looked a lot like southern England, and we thumped down at Christchurch shortly after. My new book told me to go to Charlie Brown’s Hostel, which was a friendly place with plenty of other backpackers talking about doing what I have been planning to do. I wandered round the centre of town and found the attractive stone cathedral – it looked like any big city church in the UK, and deserved a photo.
I came across a British style fish and chip shop. Fish and chips was something that I definitely did not manage to indulge in during my 4 months in the Americas, and I stuffed myself happily. Then I chanced upon an Irish pub called The Coachman. A rather good rock band called Black Velvet was playing and I stayed for a while to listen to them, enjoying a beer and chatting to some fellow backpackers from the UK and Australia.
It am still finding it very very odd to not have to speak any Spanish….