First days in New Zealand,

F
irstly I am still really far behind in this blog so I am not sure if anyone is even bothering to look at it. I will however continue it because at the end of the day it is a journal of where I went and what I done which I, at least, will be able to look back on with fond? memories.

In order to try and catch up with where I am (currently Oamaru - look it up) I am going to have to try to link some of my photos to my facebook account. This is because Its taking too much time to download the photos.

Anyhow back to the blog.

6th - 8th Jan

So I arrived at the airport in Christchurch and got the airbus into the centre of town. The bus driver looked like he was a skinhead thug but turned out to be probably the most helpful bus driver I have ever seen - not to me because I had a fair idea where I was going - but to other passengers. He gave instructions to people of where to go and helped two mothers and their prams on the bus. In order for the mothers to get room on the bus another mother sacrificed her space and got off the bus with her pram - even though it was a stop earlier than she wanted. Its things like that immediately make you like countries and people so I knew straight away I was going to like New Zealand.

I had booked into 'Base' backpackers which was right in the centre of town beside the cathedral. I picked it mostly because the volunteer project with CVNZ (conservation volunteers New Zealand) I had booked on included 3 nights free accommodation in Base. Unfortunately that accommodation started on the Friday and I arrived on the Tuesday which meant that I had 6 nights in Christchurch - just a little too much.

In hindsight I should have stayed one night then taken myself off to some other place for a couple of nights before returning to Christchurch. Much as I thought Christchurch was a nice city there was just not enough to do to keep you occupied for 6 nights.

'Base' is a typical large 'Flash' packers place complete with its own bar and travel agency. My room was on the second floor and after the usual trouble with the cardkey (i am getting used to having to go back to get a second key or card before I get into my room). I eventually got into my room which was a 6 bed dorm. One other bed was currently taken and being slept in by a Danish girl which left 1 good bottom bunk and, incredibly a double bed bottom bunk! I laid claim as quick as a flash - room to move. Soon afterwards two more girls came in - both English. One, Grace was on a round the world trip and had just come from South America via Sydney for New Year. The other, Ellie had already been travelling around New Zealand for a while on the Kiwi experience bus.

Before coming to New Zealand I had been trying to decide on the best method to go around and see the sights. There are 3 bus companies which take backpackers around from one hostel to another. Each of them has their pros and cons.

Kiwi experience is the most popular because its cheapest but has also been described as the 'fuck truck' or 'shag mobile' as it seems to consist of 18 to 20 year olds trying to get legless and their legover every night. (my sort of bus I hear you cry!) .

Magic bus or 'Tragic bus' has a slightly older crowd and is usually more expensive. Stray is the last one and has the most destinations. It is also usually the dearest. In reality from what I seen all 3 buses had a cross section of people and ages but all 3 buses generally had people half my age - not good at all. I did not have to make a decision about which bus to choose until I came back from my volunteering which gave me two weeks grace.

Once i was booked in I did a small walk of the surrounding area to get something to eat - which turned out to be bangers and mash at a slightly upmarket English bar. Then it was onto the internet back at base to look for a dentist! After noting down all the dentists in the immediate vicinity I went down to the bar for a couple of pints but headed to bed early - it's not good to go to a dentist to with beer breath! Ellie from the Kiwi experience arrived in sometime in the early hours of the morning - that's KIWI for you.

Early next morning I went in search of a dentist. Normal people would just phone up and make an appointment but I am not normal people. For something as important as my teeth I wanted to see what the place looked like. Also with my accent on the phone I could be stuck for 15mins trying to explain what is wrong with my tooth when a simple gape and point would speak more than any words.

Eventually after a lot of legwork I found one and was able to get an appointment that afternoon. For the rest of the morning and afternoon I went on a tour around the inner part of the city (see link to facebook) including the cathedral and a walk up the steeple. It was a fantastically sunny day - great for walking around taking snapshots.

At 4pm it was back to the dentist to see what he could do about my tooth. I ma not usually afraid of dentists but this one was slightly dour and did not give me good vibes. He took one look at the tooth and said that he could do a temporary white filling which should do for a couple of months. Fine by me. The dentist room was much like any other I had been too except for two things. it had a TV mounted high on one wall which was currently showing the cricket (anaesthetic perhaps?). It also had a comical poster of a brick wall with comical graffiti which was not on the wall but on the ceiling. I remember trying to read some of them while he dentist was drilling and filling my tooth. they had sayings like:

Wet paint, that's a notice not an instruction.

I choked Linda Lovelace.

Save trees, eat beaver.and one for me:

Reality is an illusion brought on by lack of alcohol.

After he had finished and I had gotten the most painful part of the procedure out of the way - paying - I went back to the backpackers to wait for my numb mouth to recover.

I thought that the best cure for the slight pain when the anaesthetic wore off would be some drink. The two Kiwi lads from my room turned out to be electricians down in Christchurch to work and we all went down to the bar and played pool. Some other lads they had met while doing a BBQ in the kitchen also joined in. By the time the lads left to find some late night pizza (I stayed) I was wasted and ended up talking to some South African guys before crawling to bed.

The next day I continued my tour of Christchurch concentrating on the fantastic botanical gardens and the free museum (which I did not finish as I did not have enough time).

Back at the hostel room I met Ellie and went with her for a couple of pints down in the bar before having an early night. The kiwis were working late that night and Ellie had to leave at about 7am the next morning on her KIWI bus - so no boozing partners!

Here are my facebook photos of christchurch - hope you can see them!

Christchurch

Last Days in Australia

4th - 6th Jan

Sunday:

The plan was to go out for a couple of drinks for my last night in Melbourne but because everyone got rat-arsed the previous night nobody was in the mood to go out. I did go out for a very nice Greek meal with my friend Katy which was only spoiled by me managing to crack a tooth on an olive pip (I don't even particularly like olives)
When I say crack what I really mean is break completely in half a tooth - Some urgent dental work will be required!

On the way back to the hostel we popped into a bottle shop and I picked up a 6 pack.

Back at the hostel rather than go out and get drunk a group of us managed to get rather happy drinking on the balcony thanks to Welsh James coming back with a crate of cheap booze. I managed to roll into bed at 2ish for my last nights sleep in Melbourne.

Monday:

For my final day in Melbourne I did some work on this blog then went to the supermarket to get some ice cream for everyone in the hostel as a goodbye thank you (I risked taking some myself - even with a broken tooth). Then at 2:30 I said my final goodbyes to everyone at the hostel - hugs, handshakes and from Xenia (warrior princess) a 'you are like a father to me' statement which made me feel happy and really old at the same time - thanks Xenia!

Then it was off to the city and the CVA office with more ice cream to say goodbye to Prue. Finally at around 4pm (after another bowl of ice cream) I got the shuttle bus to the airport. On the way through security they put my carry on bag through the x ray machine for a second time. It was as my bag went through for second time that I realised that my Secret Santa Sucking tit was in it. Luckily they did not ask to search it - that could have been embarrassing!

Arriving at Sydney airport I went and bought a return shuttle ticket and headed to the Central YHA backpackers. I had looked at staying in a hotel room for my one night in Sydney but they were all too expensive so I decided to pay $40 as a treat in a good dorm at the YHA hostel.

The place was massive - 9 floors in total with its own cafe attached downstairs. I was in a 6 bed dorm on the 5th floor. I tried my swipe card in room 502 only for it not to work. After several more attempts I gave up and went downstairs to check with reception. There I was told I was in room 506 not 502! So with an embarressed look on my face I went back up again - only for the bloody card to still not work. Down again I went to get a new card and thankfully this time it worked. The room was very spacious with large lockers and beds that didn’t creak like badly oiled wooden doors (though I was stuck on a top bunk). I went back down stairs and ordered a meal in the cafe before ringing up my shuttle bus to book my return trip in the morning. The ignoramus who answered asked me if I had a return ticket to which I replied yes then said that you had to book the shuttle 24 hours in advance - not at 9:10 the previous night. He then hung up. Sure enough it said on the ticket about the 24 hours in advance - but they never said anything about that at the airport. I was furious. I had images of me having to get another expensive taxi to the airport the next day. Fortunately I was able to buy and book another shuttle through reception.

After the meal I was in two minds weather to out for a couple of pints but instead had a late shower and an early night (I still remember - or rather DON'T remember the time I went out for a 'couple' of pints before leaving South Africa!)

Tuesday:

I got up at 6am and was dressed and outside the hostel by 6:20. The shuttle bus arrived 5 minutes later. For the next 15 minutes it went around just about every hotel in inner Sydney. At each hotel the bus driver would jump out, run into the reception then run back out again without anybody being picked up. He had a very silly run too - holding his arms out like a kangaroo - I thought he was going to start hopping at one stage. After 25 minutes of doing this we were still in the centre of town and had only managed to pick up 2 more people. A French guy started to get very irritated at this saying he was going to be late for his flight to Paris.

After another 10 minutes and at precisely 7am the shuttle bus arrived BACK at the YHA and picked up more people. At this point everyone including myself went berserk. We had just spent the last half hour going nowhere. Thankfully the bus then made a Bee line for the airport and we arrived at the domestic terminal at just after 7:20. The people getting domestic flights and the French guy jumped out. I didn't have a chance to tell him he was jumping out at the wrong terminal!

Luckily I still had plenty of time to get booked onto my flight. Once through customs I went to the security and placed my bags and other items through the x ray machine. I had forgotten to take the tit out! They gave my bag an extra long look (probably trying to make out what that funny dome like object was in the middle of it was) before letting it through (phew).

After the security I went on a vending machine spree. Over the weeks in Australia I had accumulated alot of change and this was my chance to get rid of as much as possible. I put $2.50 and selected a chunky kitkat. I then watched with slight annoyance as the packet of sweets next to the kitkat dropped - wrong bloody number Raymond. I tried again to discover that the kitkat came up as sold out. I did manage to find another vending machine to get a kitkat and some chocolate. It also had a precariously perched packet of hoy chicken crisps which had not fallen properly. All I had to do was enter the change and get two packets of crisps for the price of one. Except that I didn't have any change left. I sat looking at the machine thinking 'Just one well aimed kick would dislodge it'. I decided not to risk alerting security just as I was about to go on the plane so instead made my way to the boarding queue.

The air journey to New Zealand was only about 2 and half hours long but the seat behind me turned out to be occupied by a renilin candidate kid who spent the whole flight either shouting to his dad or kicking the back of my seat. I never came so close to murder in all my life! Finally we landed in Christchurch and after a bus ride into town I could start my New Zealand leg of my journey.

Things I have learnt:
Always carry a cheap pen with you:

As part of the check in at Sydney I was given a form to fill and as I had no pen on me I had to go and buy a pen for from one of the shops for the extortionate price of $3.50! I was slightly annoyed at this. I was even more annoyed when I went through to the customs area and discovered they had tons of pens attached to cables for filling in the bleeding form.

Things I have lost / broken

Fleece: As I went to sit in my seat on the plane to New Zealand I realised that I had left my fleece back at boarding gate. I had one of those head caught in railings panics as I checked frantically to make sure I had not left any valuable documents in the pockets. In the end all I left in the pockets was a baseball cap - thank God!

My Lumix camera does not seen to work anymore which is a bit of a bugger! No more drunken shots!

The Gay Bar, Gay Bar

3rd Jan

At some point over Christmas somebody suggested that we go to the Gay bar where Jamie works and Sat 3rd Jan was that night!

But first I had to take my car back at 8am after which I came back and updated my facebook status:

Raymond is going to the gay bar, gay bar tonight (and no i ain't!) href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=q54LJ5RsqRw&fea

I played the youtube video several times and basically spent the whole day saying 'We're going to the Gay Bar Gay Bar'. I think by the end of the day several people where getting so annoyed with me saying it that they where ready to swing for me.

In order to while away some time on a sunny afternoon a group of took a walk to the Tennis centre where the Australian open was to be held in a couple of weeks time. We had heard that there might even be some preliminary games being held that we vould see for free.

On the way we went into a funky lost and found shop which had all sorts of weird and wonderful things for people to buy:


Masters of the universe




Ailish and hat


What a wallpaper border!


Smurfs

On to the tennis centre through the pedestrian bridge:






When we got there we were disappointed to find that there was no matches on. We did, however manage to persuade oneof the security guards to show us around part of the complex. Not I hasten to add the main coiurts but some of the minor ones where some people where practising (badly) their tennis.

The area we where also had a set of busts of all the famous past australian tennis players.


Me and Pat Cash


Ailish and Yvonne Golligong

After our jaunt it was back to the hostel to prepare for the nights drinking and the GAY BAR GAY BAR.

One other unusual building around collingwood was a deralict one with this really weird room:




Onwards to the drinking. As it was my last Saturday night in Melbourne for both myself and Fong (who was leaving to go to Perth next week) we decided to make it a sort of unofficial leaving party. And a very messy affair it turned out to be.

First stop was the Dorchester bar - some pics for you to savour (or cringe at if you are in them!)


Ailish, Fong and Diana


Dave and Fong


Ailish and Katy


Colin and Susie


A lot of people


Thomas, Dave and Nadia


The lads


Dave and yours truly


The smokers having a drag outside the bar

After the Dorchester we went to another bar which I think was called first floor (cause it was on the first floor)

More even messier pics.




Natanya and Susie on way to another bar


Talk to the hand!


The women are talking about me again!

Then finally it was time to go to THE GAY BAR GAY BAR.

I can se your all drooling with antecipation about what happened at the GAY BAR GAY BAR,

Well.....

We didn't get in! The bouncer on the door said that one of us = Conor was too drunk so we decided 'Screw you!' and headed home.

When I got back I updated my Facebook Status - here is what I said (slurs and all) which will give you an indication of how pissed off and how pissed I was.


Raymond is ANNOYED to say the lest thest he was could not get into the gay bar because his friend was too drunk - YOU AIN'T SEEN DRUNK YET OZ TILL YOU SEEN A ME DRUNK!

You can ram your GAY BAR GAY BAR up your hole! (I added the last bit now)