Christchurch

We spent a lovely three days in Christchurch with Rick and Lynn Vandertie. Rick picked us up at the airport holding a sign with our names and a picture of us! So sweet. Their two guest bedrooms were already occupied by Kieran, a twenty-something teacher who has lived there since the earthquake, and Lynn’s Uncle John and Aunt Barbara who are visiting from the States. But there was still enough room for me and Becky in the garage room! Rick and Lynn take in travelers that they know by word of mouth, and have three almost full guestbooks of everyone who has stayed there so far. This couple is so welcoming, generous, and truly an inspiration. The world could use more people like Rick and Lynn.

During our few days in Ch'ch, we spent a lot of time getting settled and doing various tasks we knew we had to do while we were in town. Also spent some time touring the city, and getting over the jetlag by going to bed at 9ish every night. It was a bit confusing to go from cool weather (or snowy weather in Becky’s case thanks to the record October snowfall in NJ) to spring weather, but also wonderful because it’s spring!!! We have seen all kinds of weather since we have been here actually, but now it’s starting to feel like summer.

Here is a list of what I have been up to so far. I have:

• Opened a bank account – a few simple steps to become the proud owner of a bank account with a balance of NZ$O! 
• Wire transferred funds over to said bank account so that the balance is no longer NZ$0. Have decided I may as well replace the $ with ? because I still cannot seem to understand currency conversion and exchange rates…
•  Received an EFTPOS (debit card) – they give you the card right away, so it doesn’t have your name on it – just sign the back and you’re good to go shopping.
• Bought a SIM card for our phone – poor Vodafone guy had to put up with two silly American girls  – “Can you explain that one more time?” ‘So, what’s my phone number?” “Are you sure this is best plan?”
• Applied for an IRD number so we can receive our wages (very important) - again, so easy!
• Learned how to drive on the LEFT/WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. Little scary at first, but not a big deal now. People just learning how to drive on the left side tend to have very clean windshields (or windscreens as they call them here) because the turn signals and wipers are reversed! Signals by your right hand, wipers by your left. But now Capsy (our car on loan from Rick and Lynn, Capsy is short for Capsicum, which is what the Kiwis call red bell peppers) has a dirty windshield, which is a good sign that we know what we are doing. I sat down in what I thought was the drivers seat once, but then remembered that the steering wheel is on the other side…oops. Other interesting driving tidbits: traffic in roundabouts goes clockwise, Kiwis really like curvy roads and I don't think there is a straight, flat road in all of New Zealand, gas is approximately $6 per gallon, but people tend to spend less on gas (or should I say petrol) overall because they don’t drive as often or as far and don’t typically drive big gas-guzzling cars. I find that I am now getting left and right confused sometimes because a left turn here is like a right turn at home…Becky has laughed at me a few times for holding up my left hand in an L to make sure… That’s all on driving for now.
• Stepped on a scale to discover I weighed 50-something pounds!! Oh no, wait…kilograms. Clearly I’m still learning to convert kilograms to pounds, kilometers to miles.
•  Went to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens with Rick, and Lynn’s aunt and uncle. So beautiful and Rick is the best tour guide and somehow knows the name of almost every plant. The park is the third largest central park in a city. Even has a nice public swimming pool in it. The whole thing reminded me a bit of the Secret Garden, of course, and I wished Mary, Colin, and Dickon were there too. 
• Spotted a trout in the Avon River! First fish I saw in NZ. Looked big. He had some friends with him too.
• Tried to go to the Antarctic Center, but then saw that admission was $65. I’d rather just actually go to the Antarctic (looking into this…)
• Walked around downtown Christchurch – or at least the parts that are still accessible. After the February earthquake, a large part of the city has been blocked off because the buildings aren’t safe. Apparently a lot of people have left the city, and tourism has significantly dropped. Will probably take a long time to rebuild. They have set up a “container mall” made of huge, brightly painted shipping containers. I think it is supposed to be temporary, but it actually looks really cool and modern. 
• Attended a make-your-own-pizza party hosted by Rick and Lynn. Got to meet some of their friends, including Amanda and Shannon – Laura and Erin, they miss you!! Hopefully we will get to host some of these people at our house at some point. 
• Went to a beach. There are so few people here. The most beautiful beaches with no other people there. It's amazing. 
• Not been able to figure out how to put pictures exactly where I want them in a post. I really am hopeless at formatting this thing. Also need to work on my photography skills and remember to take pictures of people. 

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Becky the Photographer

Rick! 

Container City

We left Christchurch on Saturday morning, which felt a little bit like leaving home again – have to admit was a little teary saying goodbye to everyone, including the two cute doggies Oliver and Wilma aka Boo-Boo. But hopefully we will be back there for Thanksgiving in just a couple weeks. We (nervously) hopped in the car and headed for Murchison and the Owen River Lodge…