I got a mocchacino during cafe stop in the morning - some much needed coffee, and it was actually pretty good (at the standard $4 NZD price). My phone's camera is actually not too bad when there's good natural lighting.
We rolled into Christchurch around noonish, and after dropping off my bags at the YHA Christchurch hotel and grabbing a quick sandwich (at the nearby Subway!), I set out to explore the city with my DSLR as I usually would do in a city with things to see (plus I still had half a day left!).
Some interesting shopping buildings I found near my hostel. You might notice some streetcar tracks - there's a tram that runs a circuit through the city centre that's mainly for tourists.
Outside the ChristChurch Cathedral (Anglican) and Cathedral Square - the centre of the city. The statue near the church's main doors looked strange enough - even without the seagull resting on its head haha.
Inside the ChristChurch Cathedral. Sadly, it was set up to accommodate for tourists (like the cathedral in Auckland). It was a pretty interesting church though; there were old war-torn British commonwealth flags (plus the Canadian flag was there too!), a Christmas tree already put up, Maori artwork (11th photo), and "Our Father" translated into the Maori language (14th photo) which I found very interesting to see.
Exploring the city - probably the shopping area (with the standard Christmas decorations).
Bridge of Remembrance war memorial.
Views as I crossed the bridge.
Things I found interesting as I continued to explore the city (it was actually quite grey out but I've brightened the photos so it won't look so dreary).
At the popular Christchurch Botanical Gardens - partly because admission is free! There were some very interesting sculptures (like the ones of people wading in the pond) and very beautiful flowers (there was section devoted just to roses; the giant rose in the 13th photo is obviously a sculpture haha) and strange trees (like the one in the 12th photo). Watching the ducks was pretty funny too, especially the pair in the last photo (I found out later they're a species called Paradise Shelduck and are endemic to NZ); the white head duck is the female and the black head one is the male - I think they were a couple because the female kept following the male as the roamed the grass searching for food (it was amusing watching the female follow the male for once hahaha). The gardens are huge - I must had walked around inside for about 45 minutes, and I didn't even circle around the entire grounds (I walked through from the main entrance and came out through another entrance I found at the other end of the park, trying to cover as much as I could)! To my surprise, I ran into a Brazilian girl I had met a few days earlier on the bus, where we had chatted for most of the ride (she really inspired me to put Brazil on my list of places to visit next), so we had a quick catch up. It was totally unexpected because she was travelling around on a combination of the Magic Bus and regular bus services so we parted ways after that one day; like I've said before, it's always a pleasant surprise running into people you've previously met.
A golf course I accidentally wandered onto at the other end of the gardens. I initially thought it was part of the gardens before I noticed how groomed the grass was, and the flag pole confirmed it; I actually kept thinking why the grass was so well groomed and there were so few trees on the field before I realized it was a golf course hahaha. Strangely, there was no noticeable break between the 2 sections (the pathway actually continued on from the gardens), and the golf course eventually transitioned into a park (with a baseball field and a soccer field) before I got to the exit.
Some more views as I made my way back to the city centre.
My 4 bed dorm room (the high ceiling made it seem a lot bigger than it actually was); pretty standard hostel room. The good thing about the YHA hostel chain in NZ is that you can expect the same standards and cleanliness in most of their hostels (the downside being they have no character).
I picked up some pre-mixed salad and lamb chops (around $5 NZD!) at the local supermarket. Luckily, a previous traveller had left behind some cooking oil in the "free stuff" bin (they usually only have cooking spices, and sauces that people didn't want or need anymore), so I could sear up the lamb chops properly (instead of using water hahaha). They were sooo good: fresh, bursting with flavour, juicy, and tender. I couldn't believe I could get 4 famous, fresh (ie. not previously frozen) NZ lamb chops for that cheap (one of the real steals in NZ). Unfortunately, no one had left behind any salad dressing (or anything I could use to substitute as salad dressing) in the freebie bin, and strangely, no dressing came with the salad (they usually do) so I had to eat the entire salad plain and dry (it was definitely a bit unpleasant to put down haha)! The Swedish girls (Kristina and Louise) happened to be staying at the same hostel, and began cooking their dinner shortly after me, so we ended up chatting and eating dinner together (company is always good after exploring a city solo during gloomy weather).
Another unique NZ treat I picked up while at the supermarket: Pineapple Lumps! I thought there would be actual pieces of pineapple fruit coated in the chocolate, but disappointingly, it was actually just this soft, chewy pineapple-flavoured candy in the middle.
After dinner, I headed out to the bar at another hostel where I had agreed to meet Markus and Corinne for drinks. There weren't as many people from the bus that turned out that night as I thought there would have, but it was still a good low-key night of a few drinks and good conversation. It turned out to be my last night of drinks while in NZ!
A bar I passed by on my way to meet Markus and Corinne; the "licenced husband creche" sign caught my eye haha.
Inside the bar, where we enjoyed some beers and drinks at their happy hour rate of 2 for 1...we left soon after the special ended haha. The bar sucked - awkward seating areas, cramped standing room, and really loud bad music (which made it hard to have a conversation). But we made the best of it since we were there already; Richie hung out for a while before leaving (to catch up on some sleep), Kristina and Louise joined us for a beer (before Kristina headed out for a date with a local), and as quite a surprise, Les and Phil ran into us and joined us for a beer too before leaving early (they had to fly out of NZ the next day). The bar was giving away a $400 tab at a local tattoo parlor for the person willing to do the craziest thing - the winner was a guy who licked his buddies' butt (2nd photo; I can't believe he'd do something that disgusting for such a crappy prize)!
A shot of the ChristChurch Cathedral just outside the bar as me, Markus, and Corinne went out to find another bar (the streets were pretty quiet, and it wasn't even close to midnight yet). It was the best shot I could get using my compact camera.
An "interesting" shop we passed by while looking for a bar (and in case you're wondering, the sign cut off on the left side said massage hahaha). It was surprisingly pretty hard to find a good bar in the city centre (they were all pretty quiet or empty); I guess Chch doesn't really attract a party crowd.
At the small bar we finally settled on, enjoying one last drink of the night, a Magners Irish Cider (which I had never tried before and Markus and Corinne insisted I try, and then treated me to it!). It was actually pretty good (I can see why it was one of Corinne's favourite drinks)! We just chilled out at the bar and talked - or at least tried to as we met the most annoying bartender (surprisingly a girl from Ontario!) who kept trying to talk to us and ended up continuously interrupting our conversations! But despite the annoyances, it was still a good night with a really nice couple, and a good way to mark the end of our travels together - amazingly, the 3 of us had been on the same bus since the beginning in Auckland(!), but tomorrow, I would continue on to the next stop while they would stay behind an extra day.
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