Off to Christchurch...

Christchurch, New Zealand

May 22, 2007
S 43°31.827
E 172°37.268

After exploring Dunedin for an extra day, we had to jump in the car and get rolling at the crack-of-dawn in order to get to Christchurch by noon. We wanted to return our rental car in time to avoid being charged for another day.

The extra day in Dunedin allowed us to explore the Botanical Gardens, the campus of OtagoUniversity, get some exercise marching up the many steep hills, and spend a couple hours in an internet café searching for a cheap place to stay in Sydney.

It was still dark when we pulled out of the Top 10 in Dunedin. As we drove north along the coastline we hoped to see a fabulous sunrise over the Pacific Ocean, but the thick cloud cover prevented any views. Marc drove like a crazy Kiwi and made great time to Christchurch, driving the 361 KM in less than four and a half hours on the two lane road. We pulled into the Hertz parking lot at 11:50 AM, beating the noon deadline and saving on another day of rental expense.

We grabbed our bags, got our receipt and high-tailed it out of Hertz before they noticed the broken hubcap. Marc accidentally “kissed” a curb while parking, breaking the cheap Corolla hubcap—whoops! At least that’s the only damage that occurred during the estimated 2500 KM’s (1150 miles) of driving on the South Island; again all on the wrong side of the road.

We spent the day exploring Christchurch, the place we’ll call home for the next four nights—the longest we’ve stayed anywhere in the past month! We’re looking forward to sleeping in the same bed and, most importantly, having a bathroom and shower in our room.

It will be a real treat to not walk through a dark, cold, parking-lot to a communal bathroom to go pee tonight… it’s the little things.

Notes: We met a very nice couple, Andrea and Dave, during beers at Dux de Lux tonight. We asked to look at their Lonely Planet since they have the latest version and it quickly turned into a friendly conversation. It ends up they live in San Francisco (on the Panhandle) only a few miles from us. It really is a small world!