Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand

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Well, most of today was spent preparing to leave Melbourne (thank God they let me check out at 12:30...lazy packing morning) and heading to the airport to get to New Zealand. Since I knew I'd have to go through customs again and all of that "fun", I didn't want to rush it...

So, I got some breakfast around the corner from the hotel, packed leisurely, then hopped on the train to catch the airport shuttle downtown. The train station (above) had a very interesting design scheme, lots of curves and such. The shuttle bus to the airport was there waiting when I got off the train, so all went well. I was at the airport about 5 hours before my flight left, so I wandered about and hung out until I could check in and get on the plane. I got into Christchurch around 11:30 pm, caught an airport shuttle to the hotel, got here in about a half hour.

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Now, after all of the concern about staying in Melbourne and having a room (above) with a seperate bathroom/shower....

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It all turned out to be absolutely fine and, actually, a very nice size/simple room and no hassle what-so-ever sharing either. Plus, the guys, Mark and Brett, that managed the The Laird hotel in Melbourne were great and very helpful in so many ways. That, plus the cheap price, really made everything easy to use and find. I didn't even really mind the Hee Haw-themed room. It worked for that place....

However, talk about going from one extreme to the other....

Where my Melbourne hotel was kind of like staying at an old ski or rodeo lodge, the new (it's only 4 months old) Hotel SO, here in Christchurch is like beaming up to the future...

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Cool neon/hi-tech facade in front...

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Sleek, curved entry and reception area....

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Full bar and dining room adjacent to the reception (not open tonight, because Jesus H. Christchurch...it's late here)

Then I got to the room...

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Nice queen bed, with a modern control panel to the left that has a variety of hi-tech functions...

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A lovely flatscreen TV mounted on the wall...but wait kids, this is the cool part...

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Adjustable mood lighting in the frosted IN-ROOM bathroom-shower chamber. Look how cool the room looks when you turn off the regular light above the bed...

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It's like "Miami ViceChurch"!

Enjoyable!

I haven't figured out the entire control panet thing yet (most people know how "technical" I am)...it's got a zen alarm clock system that brings the lights up slowly 5 minutes before your time, to ease you awake...then after 5 minutes...it turns on the TV to a specific "wake up" channel, with scenery of New Zealand and relaxing music. Plus, you can hook your IPod into the sound system in the room (but you have to have an RCA adapter or something and, since I already have my IPod docking station w/speakers...probably won't do that. Wire...cables...adapters...my brain hurts).

I may never leave the room...why would I want to?

Local scenery and history OR adjustable mood lighting and comfy new bed?

Hmmm.....

4 comments:

Mark Ward said...

I don't think it has the same impact when you do it in print or online, but allow me..."AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

That's cool. Does it wash your naughty bits for you or must you exert actual effort?

Vampire Hours said...

It's a really cool place...not for everyone (rooms are small, but designed to use the space efficiently). I'll be taking a shower soon, so will get back to you on the naughty-bits scrubbing. If it does...I'm moving HERE.

Lo said...

what a FUN room! Very Asian-modern...

My Life .... said...

Hahaha, nice advertising of the hotel Ken. As for the washing of naughty bits, I can assure you that the bathrooms are incapable of doing that....at the moment anyway LOL