That was my first thought of the town. As soon as the bus passed the sign saying 'Dunedin city boundary' it started pissing it down. But firstly, Chch...
...was warm and shiny and generally lovely.
Watchmen was good. From what I've heard of the book's ending the movie's version is SO much better. A giant squid? Boring. I tell you what was not good though, Twilight. I went to see it last night, sat through maybe 15 minutes then gave up and snuck into He's Just Not That Into You instead. God that was an awful 15 minutes.
Saturday was very warm and sunny and shiny so I went to the beach and splodged in the sea, specifically in the sPacific, spacifically at Sumner. I actually got sunburn on my legs! I thought my legs were magically impervious to UV.
On Sunday I went on the tram a few times, mostly from Cathedral Square to my hostel because it stopped just outside and I were lazy. Well why waste a two-day ticket and walk? Also went up the gondola. Very awesome views of the plains, the city and Banks peninsula. Had lunch up there then walked down the path that settlers used to use back in the day to get from Christchurch to Lyttleton. Lyttleton was closed though so i didn't stay long. Had a mooch and a milkshake then got the bus back to the city where I rented a kayak and fulfilled my several-months-long dream of kakyaking. It may have been on the world's tamest river, but still! I kayaked! And got beached and failed to touch a duck's butt. Awesome.
And now here I am in Dundin. It's cold and wet and a bit like Bangor. Sniffing ecology textbooks in the Uni bookshop cheered me up though. And I handed over a LARGE amount of dollars to go on a wildlife cruise tomorrow. It's going to be very cold and rainy but I don't care! I'm going to see albatrosses, penguins and seals! Oh my!
Hope it's a lot more awesome than the antarctic centre, or as I call it, the International Disappointment Centre. Exactly.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Toodle oo Tekapo
Farewell shiny Tekapo, I shall miss thee. Especially Sam and Woody (extremely awesome Jack Russells).
I was in Tekapo 7 weeks and only one update here. Pourquoi, one might say if one was pretentious, comme moi. Well that would be because most days I was working more than 12 hours.
My days in shiny Tekapo consisted of waking up, working 5-7 hours cleaning rooms in a hotel that time forgot and retro rejected, food, more sleep, 4-10 hours waitressing in a pizza restaurant then more sleep. On my days off, more sleep. Occasionally I went walkabouts by the lake and up hills and once to Timaru (a lot like Newport) and Mt Cook.
Mt Cook was very shiny even though the clouds were ridiculously low so I couldn't see any of the mountains. They were just lurking there in the mists. Walked up to a lake full of bits of ice and small bergs at the end of a glacier, not that you could tell it was a glacier as it was very mucky. But then it is called the Hooker glacier so there you go.
But now I is in Christchurch, or as we locals say, Chch. Staying in a hostel opposite the museum and Hagley park. It's nice enough, but the showers are a looooong way from the bedrooms. Got there at 10ish last night. Couldn't sleep much but then I have gone from a ridiculously large and comfortable double bed with many pillows to a hard bunk bed with a pathetic sliver of what calls itself a pillow. But I ain't whinging.
Went mooching round the city today. Wandered down to the warehouse to buy some trousers that actually fit and aren't ridiculously falling apart and huge like my old ones. Then more mooching, went to the museum and geeked out in the bird hall and Antarctic room. Wandered round a bit of the park. Lots of very very loud crickets. Think I might hire a canoe from the boat sheds at some point and freak out the ducks. Then I went to the arts centre, which was a load of pretentiousness really. I ain't into art, I is into fish. Big fish. So I went to the aquarium and squeed over ENORMOUS fish, tuataras, a kiwi's bum (that's all I could see of it), seahorses and freakish eels. There's something just not quite right about eels. Those fish were pretty big, but not as big as Ichabod. And none swam upside down.
Tonight I'm hoping to see Watchmen but maybe something else if it's sold out. Tomorrow will be awesome as I'm going to the International Antarctic Centre!!! Very excited. Very, very sad.
I was in Tekapo 7 weeks and only one update here. Pourquoi, one might say if one was pretentious, comme moi. Well that would be because most days I was working more than 12 hours.
My days in shiny Tekapo consisted of waking up, working 5-7 hours cleaning rooms in a hotel that time forgot and retro rejected, food, more sleep, 4-10 hours waitressing in a pizza restaurant then more sleep. On my days off, more sleep. Occasionally I went walkabouts by the lake and up hills and once to Timaru (a lot like Newport) and Mt Cook.
Mt Cook was very shiny even though the clouds were ridiculously low so I couldn't see any of the mountains. They were just lurking there in the mists. Walked up to a lake full of bits of ice and small bergs at the end of a glacier, not that you could tell it was a glacier as it was very mucky. But then it is called the Hooker glacier so there you go.
But now I is in Christchurch, or as we locals say, Chch. Staying in a hostel opposite the museum and Hagley park. It's nice enough, but the showers are a looooong way from the bedrooms. Got there at 10ish last night. Couldn't sleep much but then I have gone from a ridiculously large and comfortable double bed with many pillows to a hard bunk bed with a pathetic sliver of what calls itself a pillow. But I ain't whinging.
Went mooching round the city today. Wandered down to the warehouse to buy some trousers that actually fit and aren't ridiculously falling apart and huge like my old ones. Then more mooching, went to the museum and geeked out in the bird hall and Antarctic room. Wandered round a bit of the park. Lots of very very loud crickets. Think I might hire a canoe from the boat sheds at some point and freak out the ducks. Then I went to the arts centre, which was a load of pretentiousness really. I ain't into art, I is into fish. Big fish. So I went to the aquarium and squeed over ENORMOUS fish, tuataras, a kiwi's bum (that's all I could see of it), seahorses and freakish eels. There's something just not quite right about eels. Those fish were pretty big, but not as big as Ichabod. And none swam upside down.
Tonight I'm hoping to see Watchmen but maybe something else if it's sold out. Tomorrow will be awesome as I'm going to the International Antarctic Centre!!! Very excited. Very, very sad.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Tekapo!
Is awesome so far, and I've hardly seen any of it yet! The hotel's OK, but enough of work, the main thing is I have my own room with a TV that works and is in colour and has more than 2 channels!
The bus to Queenstown was OK. 6 hours on a minibus, not much more to say than that. Shiny awesome scenery but I'm like 'ah, whatever' now when it's all huge mountains and bright blue lakes out of the window. Gets booooring. But I felt so provincial or summut when I got to Queenstwon. So many people! And shops! And metal boxes on wheels that move! I were quite giddy.
The hostel I stayed with was really, really bad, even though I had a room on my own. If you like to not sleep, slam doors and have fleas on you then do stay at the Bungi Backpackers. If, however, you are a normal person who likes sleep and no bugs in the bed, then don't. Ever.
Mooched about the town for a bit on Monday night then wandered into a cinema and saw Australia.
it was awesome! Really really really really really good and exciting and awesome and even Nicole Kidman wasn't annoying as usual. And also, Hugh Jackman. That's all that needs to be said really.
Got up quite late next morning as I was knackered and got the bus to a shopping centre so I could go the the Warehouse for cheap toiletries. It's like Matalan's and Wilkinson's cheap bastard love child. Was going to go on the gondolas but I didn't really have time so I mooched some more and moseyed around the gardens by the lake. Saw Australasian grebes and got mugged by ducks for my Subway.
Got the bus at 3, took 2.5hours to get here. Very different on this side of the alps to t'other. Very flat and hardly any proper trees. Like Arizona or summut and just as hot.
So far I really like Tekapo. Spent last night outside with some of the other staff, quaffing beverages and whatnot. Work was OK this morning, had fish nuggets and chips for lunch (I don't have to cook!) and now I'm off to mooch about and explore the shiny lake.
The bus to Queenstown was OK. 6 hours on a minibus, not much more to say than that. Shiny awesome scenery but I'm like 'ah, whatever' now when it's all huge mountains and bright blue lakes out of the window. Gets booooring. But I felt so provincial or summut when I got to Queenstwon. So many people! And shops! And metal boxes on wheels that move! I were quite giddy.
The hostel I stayed with was really, really bad, even though I had a room on my own. If you like to not sleep, slam doors and have fleas on you then do stay at the Bungi Backpackers. If, however, you are a normal person who likes sleep and no bugs in the bed, then don't. Ever.
Mooched about the town for a bit on Monday night then wandered into a cinema and saw Australia.
OH
MY
GOD
Got up quite late next morning as I was knackered and got the bus to a shopping centre so I could go the the Warehouse for cheap toiletries. It's like Matalan's and Wilkinson's cheap bastard love child. Was going to go on the gondolas but I didn't really have time so I mooched some more and moseyed around the gardens by the lake. Saw Australasian grebes and got mugged by ducks for my Subway.
Got the bus at 3, took 2.5hours to get here. Very different on this side of the alps to t'other. Very flat and hardly any proper trees. Like Arizona or summut and just as hot.
So far I really like Tekapo. Spent last night outside with some of the other staff, quaffing beverages and whatnot. Work was OK this morning, had fish nuggets and chips for lunch (I don't have to cook!) and now I'm off to mooch about and explore the shiny lake.
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