Arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand

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.



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



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...



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



Sleek, curved entry and reception area....



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...



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



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



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...



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.....

Fall in Christchurch...

It's so odd for me to think about it being autumn here in New Zealand, especially since we're still in winter in the States. But, Fall is my favorite time of year, so it kind of works out in my favor. It's nice to walk around in the cooler air (not missing the 100 degree heat from Melbourne) and watching the trees change color. The best place to do that, of course, is to go to the Botanical Gardens.



It was a beautiful day for walking around this HUGE garden. The flowers seemed to be bloomin' all around...







Even the cactus appeared to be happy (and I'm not a big fan of the cacti...)



Plus, the river runs around the garden too...



At one end of the garden is the Canterbury Museum. Lots of Maori history (the people who originally settled this area) and artifacts...





There was also the Antarctica exhibit that focused on the early days of exploring that "slightly" chilly region (no one enjoys exploring a chilly region).



Imagine sleeping with 6 other people in that dome...tight quarters. Over time, it was used for storage, then eventually as a bathroom on one of the bases. Yeah...it still has a "not so fresh" smell...

Then there was a "History of Christchurch" area that looked almost like a studio backlot, with building facades...



And even a few creepy "people" lurking about. Check out the hours for the nurses. They certainly don't have those hours now...



There were costume displays...





Even furniture in glass cases (you don't want them to get out!)...



Confucius was actually here and, although famous for all of his "sayings"....he was remarkably silent the entire time I was visiting...



Even "Oh, Mighty" herself was here....Isis.



It was a pretty cool museum and when I headed out the front door, there was a large group of local children in their school uniforms waiting to come inside...



They looked like the Von Trapp family and I was very disappointed that they didn't burst out into "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things" or "Edelweiss".

I walked past the Coronet Theater, a cool old structure (just like Bea Arthur)...





It reminded me of the Hogwarts School of Magic...but without the magic....or the kids. Maybe they were all just out at the museum refusing to sing for the tourists. Kids are dumb...

I was getting tired and headed towards the hotel. Of course, I passed this huge glass building...



It turned out to be the Christchurch Art Gallery. Hmmm...gallery...nap....culture....NAP...wonder if they have any scary baby doll art....



Baby with shears. What is it about dolls with creepy eyes in almost every art museum? That's always my cue to leave....baby with shears....walk faster....RUN....

I was almost home and passed, yet, ANOTHER museum. Hmmm....more art...NAP...modern art....NAP NAP....maybe more scary babies....oh, okay...let's go see.

No scary babies, but I thought this piece was funny. Of course, as I was taking the picture in the empty gallery, someone came by and said "You can't take pictures of the art" and I said "Sorry, I'll erase it"...and I did.

Right after I uploaded it to this blog....

The people, the people...

Well, the sky cleared up last night and it was back to sunny cool weather for my last day in ChristChurch. I didn't do anything special today...just wanted to take it easy and relax a bit before packing and getting ready for my flight to Queenstown tomorrow afternoon. Many people have told me how beautiful it is there (they call it the Swiss Alps of New Zealand. I hope they also have Swiss Miss with the tiny marshmallows), so I'm looking forward to wandering around and exploring that region (we all enjoy exploring a new region).



I spent a couple of hours in the main square of ChristChurch today, just watching the wide variety of people hanging out in town. It's really interesting to just sit and listen to all of the different languages chatting all around you. Backpackers and travelers come in all shapes and sizes, age ranges and nationalities. You see everything from young couples walking hand in hand, groups of backpackers clumped together looking over a map or eating a quick sandwich before wandering off to their next destination or hostel, old couples walking around with full backpacks that, you'd think, would topple their frail bodies. But, they don't topple or teeter...they just blend in with all of the other people milling around them.



There is always a large group of people gathered in the square, many of them watching this one street performer. He eats fire, does tricks and tells jokes for at least an hour or so each session. It probably helps that he's right across from a Starbucks...it's like a beacon for travelers in need of a pickup. I know that I picked up their new Dulce de Leche Frappacino...enjoyable.



Seagulls are the pigeons of Christchurch. They are pretty aggresive with each other as they fight over bits of food that people drop for them. Very un-Jonathan Livingston Seagull for sure.



There was a really big game of chess going on (and I mean that literally) on one side of the square. It's funny to see two adults staring very intently at these giant chess pieces, then casually walking over and lifting one up, then moving it into place...which brings the opponent immediately onto the chessboard to pick up his piece, make his move and then, take his opponents fallen knight or rookie away. I think the next level of this game should involve real people dressed as the pieces and then, when someone needs to remove a piece from the board, the winning piece could smack the crap out of losing piece, sending them crying off to the side of the game. Oh, the interactivity possibilities that could occur...



I walked by and took a picture of the structure that the drunk kids attempted to climb the other night. I didn't notice any blood around the base, so there are still a couple of lucky dumb kids still around to binge drink for another day.

I wandered by a couple of "famous" statues today...



This one looks kind of like TV's Frasier Crane with a few too many seagull deposits on top.



This one reminded me of Samantha's father on the TV show "Bewitched" (Maurice!). I wish he had been holding an extra large martini glass...that would have been perfect!

And...a few fun signs from around the city...


A local restaurant with a name that doesn't make me to want to eat there...


It's not fashion, if it's not KOOKY!


I wonder if they have live, nood girls working inside?


I waited to post this until after I left Melboune. I wasn't Khutie-grounded and didn't want to chance it.

Well, I've gotta start packing up my stuff so that I'm ready to check out tomorrow morning. I'm gonna miss my starship guest room and hotel. It's been a great place to stay and I highly recommend you try it, if you're ever in the neighborhood.

It's "SO" cool....

Happy Easter Everyone!

New Brighton Beach Memoirs

Now THERE is a land that should have a resort!

Unfortunately, for the people of Christchurch, you can't buy liquor in a store on Good Friday. They have odd liquor laws that cover most, but not all, bars during Easter weekend. A restaurant can serve drinks if you're eating, so many bars suddenly had a snack menu this weekend...always ways around the law.

And from what I saw last night, the New Zealand kids enjoy drinking just as much as the Aussies. Someone told me yesterday that New Zealand has got one of the highest percentage of teen binge drinkers in the world (more than the US and Britian). Here is a little info:

Surveys of New Zealand teenagers show much higher rates of binge drinking - 37 per cent of those aged 12 to 17.
In Christchurch, 43 per cent of males and 33 per cent of females aged between 12 and 17 consume five or more drinks in one session.

It's like watching a city full of frat kids run amok at times. Last night, I saw a group of drunk kids trying to climb this tall, angled, steel, monument and, with each drunken attempt, they would get part of the way up and then would slip and often fall backwards down to the concrete. Dumb-asses. Opposite of this energetic group, were three older people laying down in open parking spaces trying to catch some sleep...ignoring their drunk friends who were trying to get them to get up and go home.

And it's not just the kids, their adult counterparts are just as bad. My first night here, I saw a man so drunk that he eventually lost his balance and fell into the tree he was leaning against. He hit his head and just lay on the ground falling in/out of sleep for over a half hour until the po po came and took him away. Now, I enjoy a drink or three now and then, but never anything like the people described above. That's just dumb...and a little sad.

Of course, it's entertaining to watch when it's not someone you know and, if they fall and don't die or bleed all over the place, it's really good for a laugh.



So, after recovering from my failed attempts at climbing that damn, slippery monument in town last night...I mean, after doing a little knitting in my room and getting a GOOD nights sleep, I woke up today and headed to the local beach in the city of New Brighton. Unlike my last visit to a beach, this one was enjoyable, nice temperature and my skin didn't melt off of my skeletal structure when I stepped into the sun.



Wanna know what I saw?

Girls in dark glasses, with black satin sashes...



Sufers in bodysuits, that clung to their asses...



Some random sand art, that said "Good something"...



Those were a few of my FAvorite things....

Sorry....couldn't resist.

ANYWAY....it was just a nice day hangin' by the beach. Here are a few random pics I took...





Interesting bridge support design. I enjoyed the circles....




I would only surf if I could do it like the guy on the lower right.












They also had one of those run-down/rusty amusement parks that you only find in beach areas like this. The kind that, in a Stephen King novel, would malfunction and send the various patrons spinning out of control to their deaths.



So, of course, I had to ride something. Fortunately, they had the flying chair swings. I LOVE THOSE!



While waiting for the other 4 year olds to get into their seats (come on kids, I don't have all day!), I noticed this little boy across from my hanging body...crying, CRYING because he wanted to ride the ride and his mother wouldn't let him.



I wanted to tell him that a real "ladies man" wouldn't cry so much, but it was like he was begging me to get out of my chair (no way, tiny!) and let him in. So, then he attempted to crawl through the very childproof fences they always have at carnivals of death...





He wasn't happy about being pulled back into the "safe" body dropping zone. Mom brought his little sister over and they both watched as we slowly spun out of sight, clinging to our rickety chairs and watching our lives flash before us...



It was a fun ride, everyone was accounted for when they stopped it and no one hurled...a banner day and I was ready to go.

So, I hopped into my magical flying machine and headed back to the hotel for a long winters nap....