Woke up early to catch the bus to Greymouth today. Said farewell to Fahimi and David, had a quick breakfast, and then we were off. The ride to Greymouth took us about 4 hrs, during which we stopped along a couple of lakes for a view of the spectacular scenery. Its kinda amazing how such a big body of water can actually act as a giant mirror...
Reached Greymouth at about 1.15pm. Checked in our luggage, and waited for the train to Christchurch to arrive at 1.45pm. Darryl went to the toilet at the last minute and was nearly late for the boarding call. I was almost tempted to leave that moron behind and head onto Christchurch myself. Heh. Train ride was another 5 hrs through what was now becoming boring and normal scenery. We slept through most of the journey, though I did wake up to take a few splendid shots of gorges and rivers as the train zipped along.
Arrived at Christchurch at 1815 hrs, collected our stuff, and boarded a shuttle that took us to our hostel. The Occidental Backpackers looked cool from outside, it was pretty big, the rooms had a common balcony, and there was a cafe and bar. We paid 67 bucks for 3 nights, which was quite cheap actually. Dinner was another affair of overcooked pasta with too much pasta sauce. I was still hungry enough to eat a cow after the meal. If anyone asks me why I've lost weight over the past few weeks, I'm gonna smack him. Turned in early that night since there wasn't much else to do. Lucky for me, the room had a double decker bed. After my experience sharing a bed with Darryl in Fox Glacier, I think I'd rather sleep with a cow.
13.07.2004
Boring day again. Its always the same case in big cities. There just isn't much to do besides retail therapy and sightseeing. After waking up to find Darryl gone for breakfast and the sun almost at its zenith, I found him on his way back from the camera shop. That moron just jammed his film in his camera, and the repair bills are estimated to be at least a hundred bucks. Oh well.
Went out on a sightseeing walk through the city. One thing that separates Christchurch from other major cities in NZ is that Christchurch has loads of historical gothic buildings built in the 1800s. We walked past Cathedral Square, which was crammed to the max with tons of excited school kids. Seems like their school was organizing some kind of fund raising event, I saw kids selling all kinds of things ranging from muffins to old Magic cards.
Went out on a sightseeing walk through the city. One thing that separates Christchurch from other major cities in NZ is that Christchurch has loads of historical gothic buildings built in the 1800s. We walked past Cathedral Square, which was crammed to the max with tons of excited school kids. Seems like their school was organizing some kind of fund raising event, I saw kids selling all kinds of things ranging from muffins to old Magic cards.
Spent the rest of the day wandering through the quaint old city and visiting all kinds of old buildings, parks and museums. Saw a Asian food court near our hostel, but the costs were really ridiculous. Imagine a plate of char kuey teow selling at 8 NZ dollars. That's almost 10 Singaporean bucks for you. So, it was another night of pasta again. Damn, I even dream of pasta now in my sleep. That is not a good sign.
14.07.2004
14.07.2004
Things finally picked up pace today. Reveille was extremely early, waking up at 6am is hard. Ate a hasty breakfast, packed my stuff, kicked a still sleeping Darryl just for fun, and went downstairs to wait for the shuttle that was supposed to bring me to Mt Hutt. Yes, today is the day I try snowboarding. The shuttle arrived late though, but I met two really cute jap ladies on the shuttle. Kinda weird eh, how I keep bumping into cute jap babes on my trip...hehheh..
The shuttle picked up a couple more people along the way, and stopped by a ski shop to borrow our gear before heading off to Mt Hutt. The journey took about an hour just to reach the base of the mountain, which was then followed by another 30min of driving up winding and steep roads slick with ice and snow before we caught sight of the ski centre. I got changed into my gear immediately, and was directed to my instructor for the day. Our group consisted of about 8 people, including me. Charles, our instructor, got off to teaching us the basics of strapping on the snowboard, simple movements and stuff. Everyone proved extremely adept, except me of course. I couldn't even travel in a straight line without falling on my bum. Then again, everyone else had either skateboarding or surfing experience, so it can't be helped if I'm still a virgin at this.
We learnt stuff like how to use the ski lifts too. That proved harder than moving. I couldn't position myself on time to grab the oncoming handle, and had to wait for the next, effectively jamming up the queue; halfway up the slope, I lost my footing on my board, and slipped sideways, nearly castrating myself in the process as the handle promptly whacked me where it hurts the most. I think I shall hike up the hill next time.
After a lunch break of an hour, we were back at it. I learned how to do turns at break neck speeds, how to brake without falling flat on my face most of the times, how to do jumps and ollies....in the end, I kinda got the hang of it. Of course everyone else was swooping down the hill like pros while I was still fumbling with my stupid boot clip, but I can manage a half decent ollie and a jump of 5cm. Great huh?
The wind on the mountain top was disgustingly strong today. Many times, my straight course downhill would end up in a crazy zig zag as the winds pummeled me. There were times I was nearly knocked off my feet where I was standing just by the force of the winds. I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't blown off the edge. Its a 1000 feet drop at least, so I probably have time to take a breather in between my screaming before I decorate the ground like some poor lemming.
Fun ended at 4pm, returned my stuff, and hopped on the shuttle for a 2 hr journey back to town. Had fun chatting with a japanses guy on the way back. Satoshi was an assistant japanese teacher in Auckland, and he was here since its the winter hols for students. Interesting chap. Reached Christchurch at 6.30pm, and here I am now updating this. I'm off to another round of pasta AGAIN later, and tomorrow we are flying off to Auckland. If I have the time, I will be back with another update before we head back to hot, sunny and boring Singapore.
The shuttle picked up a couple more people along the way, and stopped by a ski shop to borrow our gear before heading off to Mt Hutt. The journey took about an hour just to reach the base of the mountain, which was then followed by another 30min of driving up winding and steep roads slick with ice and snow before we caught sight of the ski centre. I got changed into my gear immediately, and was directed to my instructor for the day. Our group consisted of about 8 people, including me. Charles, our instructor, got off to teaching us the basics of strapping on the snowboard, simple movements and stuff. Everyone proved extremely adept, except me of course. I couldn't even travel in a straight line without falling on my bum. Then again, everyone else had either skateboarding or surfing experience, so it can't be helped if I'm still a virgin at this.
We learnt stuff like how to use the ski lifts too. That proved harder than moving. I couldn't position myself on time to grab the oncoming handle, and had to wait for the next, effectively jamming up the queue; halfway up the slope, I lost my footing on my board, and slipped sideways, nearly castrating myself in the process as the handle promptly whacked me where it hurts the most. I think I shall hike up the hill next time.
After a lunch break of an hour, we were back at it. I learned how to do turns at break neck speeds, how to brake without falling flat on my face most of the times, how to do jumps and ollies....in the end, I kinda got the hang of it. Of course everyone else was swooping down the hill like pros while I was still fumbling with my stupid boot clip, but I can manage a half decent ollie and a jump of 5cm. Great huh?
The wind on the mountain top was disgustingly strong today. Many times, my straight course downhill would end up in a crazy zig zag as the winds pummeled me. There were times I was nearly knocked off my feet where I was standing just by the force of the winds. I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't blown off the edge. Its a 1000 feet drop at least, so I probably have time to take a breather in between my screaming before I decorate the ground like some poor lemming.
Fun ended at 4pm, returned my stuff, and hopped on the shuttle for a 2 hr journey back to town. Had fun chatting with a japanses guy on the way back. Satoshi was an assistant japanese teacher in Auckland, and he was here since its the winter hols for students. Interesting chap. Reached Christchurch at 6.30pm, and here I am now updating this. I'm off to another round of pasta AGAIN later, and tomorrow we are flying off to Auckland. If I have the time, I will be back with another update before we head back to hot, sunny and boring Singapore.
