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South Pacific - part II

Christchurch, Arthur's Pass, The glaciers, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Abel Tasman National Park, Wellington, Tongariro National Park, Bay of Islands, Auckland

Hector Yague
2005-10-09 15:46:17

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Christchurch

Well, that's it Hector. You cannot get any further away from home without rocketing off the damn planet... On the 5th of November 2004 I landed in Christchurch, the capital of New Zealand's south island and, what's more important, Europe's antipodes. From now on, every single mile I travel will be countdown back to Spain, via the other side of the world of course.

Upon arrival, Christchurch immediately evoked sights I had previously seen in Oxford (England): the gothic churches, the pedestrian streets, the sleepy bridge over an ever sleepier river, the flower-blooming parks, the old-fashioned bakeries, the bell-ringing trams, etc. Indeed, Christchurch had been a mid-XIX century settlement supervised by the Church of England, and it was meant to be the role model embodying all that was considered British by the victorian standards. For what is worth, they definitely achieved the goal. Today's Christchurch teems with a young, university-town atmosphere, with students crowding the local outdoor pubs, the flee markets and a profuse arts and music scene.

And, by the way, the weather was most English too! Cool, mild temperatures wrapped up by a cloudy sky accompanied me for the few weeks I spent in this country. There goes my lovely Australian sun tan!

On my first night there in Christchurch, I heard that there were some local celebrations in a nearby town with fireworks and stuff, so I picked up a bus and spent the evening there eating ketchup-soaked hotdogs and enjoying the fireworks spectacle.

However, the most significant event during my stay in Christchurch was casually meeting Felix (England). I had planned to rent a car to explore thoroughly New Zealand as there are some remote areas best reachable by car. Well, he was incidentally following a similar itinerary across the country for a similar amount ...