Here is a map of the South Island. Christchurch is on the East Coast and Queenstown is lower and central.
So I take my window seat and have a guy about my age in the middle seat and then a young boy in the aisle seat. The guy next to me quickly starts to snooze as soon as we take off and is doing the bobble head thing and nearly bonking into my shoulder every few minutes. And then the young boy, maybe 8 years old starts throwing up about mid way through the flight. Luckily, I had the window and could stare out over the ocean with my iPod in to drown out the surrounding noises....
But I landed safely in Christchurch and LOVED the feeling of arriving on my own and getting to make my way into town. I really chose to come back to Christchurch because Kelly and I didn't get to go to a cafe we read about because it was closed the day we were in town. It's called Globe Cafe and I went on a hunt trying to find it. I eventually did and had a latte and lunch there and read a really good book -- Greg Iles is the author and I've read three of his books while being down here, so if you need a good book I suggest looking into one of his.
After lunch, I wondered around the city which has great artwork throughout the town. The main center is called Cathedral Square because of this:
It's a gorgeous Cathedral and obviously looks beautiful while lit up at night.
I got back to my room and met 3 girls traveling together. They offered for me to go to dinner with them later that night so I tagged along. There was a Canadian, a Brit and a Kiwi. It was nice to chat with them and we went out for a few drinks after dinner too.
The next morning I had to get up early to catch a bus to Queenstown, which is further south on the South Island, thus a lot more cold! I think that's a big misconception of New Zealand - People assume that because its in the 'south pacific' that it's really warm and tropical... but that's not the case at all!! It's pretty comparable to Seattle winter right now, pretty cold and rainy. I think it is a bit more cold than Seattle though because they get storms that come up from Antarctica, so its a more harsh chill than what we get in Seattle.
While on the bus, I met two nice people from Wisconsin. We got to chat a lot and it was great to finally meet some AMERICANS down here!! It's ALL English people that I meet. The bus ride took 10 hours to get to Queenstown so I got into the city around 6pm. I had a bit of a scare because I hadn't booked my accommodations prior to getting into town, I figured there were enough Hostels that I'd be able to get a room since I was traveling on my own. I walked to the first hostel, and they were fully booked, so I moved onto the next and they were booked as well. This made me nervous. I headed to a nicer one in the center of town that I was sure they'd be booked if the other two were... but luckily someone had just cancelled their reservation so I got a room!! I headed up to my dorm room to meet 6 English people that were traveling New Zealand together. They were all very nice and friendly so we got along well. But, I was craving the whole bus ride to go to --
for dinner. Everyone in the room couldn't afford it so I took off to have dinner solo. I think I may have blogged about Fergburger before, but it doesn't hurt to tell again how amazing these burgers are!! Even the Vegetarian ones!! If anyone comes to New Zealand and goes to Queenstown, they MUST go to Fergburger. I want to relate it to Dick's, but its more exclusive than that and the burgers are massive and, well, better. Sorry to the Dick's fans but they don't give me a vegetarian option while Ferg gives me TWO!
I met up with my new Wisconsin friends for a few drinks after dinner but had an early night. Little background on Queenstown -- its known as the adventure capital in New Zealand. It has the first bungee jumping site in the world, and three other jumps you can do as well. There is white water rafting, sky diving, luging (kind of go-car racing) and skiing/snowboard, paragliding plus a bunch of other things! And, I had no inclination to do any of these things....
My first full day in Queenstown consisted of a bit of a sleep in, then a walk around town to find a grocery store then I came back to the Hostel to make myself breakfast. After that I headed to the information center to ask about the Spas in Queenstown because I wanted a pedicure and massage. I booked this up for the next day then took the Gondola up to the top of the mountain overlooking the city. It had great views of the surrounding areas with the lake below and snow capped mountains all around us. Queenstown really reminds me of a smaller Whistler. There are two mountains to go skiing on and the town is quaint and relaxing, yet upscale enough if that is what you are looking for. Here is a picture from the top of the gondola.
After the Gondola I did a bit of shopping and wondering around the town. Bought some food for dinner and heading back to the Hostel to cook some stir fry! After dinner, I went out with the English people in my room and later the Wisconsin people met up as well. We ditched the English people and went to a new bar which has a live band. It was a ton of fun!! We got some dancing in and met a few other people there and just had a really great night! I got home late and knew I needed to wake up early enough in time for my day at the spa.
I got to the spa with a little hangover but figured it would be cleared up after the massage. Which, it was, and a cup of tea. The massage was really good but the best part was they let you take a shower there afterward and they have all these special products from Fiji. Now after staying in Hostels and having to take showers in them, this was remarkable to get a big, clean shower that produced hot water!! Man I thought I was in heaven. After that I headed off to my pedicure and got a hot pink color to wear with my flips back in Seattle summertime!
It was lunch time by the time I was out of the spa so I asked for a suggestion of a good cafe to go to. The lady that helped me suggested 'VuDu Cafe' which was just down the road a bit. I walked over there and it looked really cute and was pretty crowded so I decided to stay. I hung there for a few hours and read my book, while eavesdropping on the conversations around me... didn't pick up anything too good though. It's been fun to try and guess where people are from while being out an about. There was one couple that was definitely from America... The woman had platinum blond hair, and, a some 'enhanced' features, while the husband was probably 20 years her senior and balding. The were dressed in matching ski attire and Ugg boots. It was pretty funny to watch and I wish I could have snuck a picture in without them noticing.
My last night in Queenstown was pretty lazy, I didn't want to spend any money so I stayed in for dinner and didn't go out for drinks. Plus, I was engrossed in my book and laid in bed for a few hours to finish it.
The next morning I got up early to take the dreaded bus ride back up to Christchurch. Two good things happened while on the bus; one - this picture below:
and two, I met two Irish lads. I love how conversations have to start in situations like riding a bus for 10 hours and having the same people sit by you the whole time. Most likely everyone would want to talk to someone, but its just an awkward thing to start up the conversation. The Irish one was good though. I was sitting behind them and sneezed and one lend over the chair and said 'Bless you' and I replied Thank you then he just said 'OK now talk to me, I need some entertainment.' So that was that and we enjoyed the rest of the bus ride together. Luckily he did talk to me when he did though because I had just remembered that I had a whiteboard pen in my purse and I was thinking how fun it would be to use this on the big window for some Tic-Tac-Toe or hangman. I proposed the idea to both of them and they thought it would be fun. So this whiteboard pen gave us hours of entertainment!!
When we got into Christchurch I asked where they were staying the night and they said they had a flight out at 7am so they were going to stay in the airport and, I since I was flying out at 8am I thought it would be fun to join them!! We stayed in Christchurch as long as we could then took the bus out to the airport and got there around midnight. Once again, on the bus we met two more people that had the same idea as the Irish boys and we stayed with them at the airport as well. It was a good adventure, staying up all night playing cards and chatting away. I don't think I would choose to do it again, unless I was really broke, but it was fun to do for the time being!!
Traveling solo is very interesting. I think 6 days was good for me, it is a challenge and tests your confidence in terms of trying to meet people and, if you don't just needing to do things on your own. It was fun for the week but some people do this for a year and I can see that becoming exhausting!
Now I'm back in Wellington and have 3 days until I go back to the airport and fly home. I am really looking forward to getting back and seeing everyone, and enjoying the summertime. I was really bummed out about leaving these past two weeks but now that I've done my trip and its all winding down, I'm looking forward to getting home.
See you all in Seattle!
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