Booze Hags

So Tracy and I safely arrived in New Zealand (after possible catastrophe- apparently when a bus in Thailand stops at your stop- the airport- and doesn't announce the stop and no one gets off, it means you GET OFF THE BUS IMMEDIATELY or you continue on to Bangkok), town of Christchurch on Wednesday.

Before leaving Thailand, Iain and Jennifer were nice enough to hook us up with a tent and two sleeping bags, which are a great idea, but it also means we discovered that we MIGHT be carrying a little too much (Tracy has officially become a turtle in this picture):





We did a quick tour of the town, below are pictures of our hostel (labeled, originally, "backpackers") and some shots of the town:







Christchurch, despite being a major airport hub, is a pretty quiet town- all shops closed at 5, and when we arrived at a bar at 9PM, we were 2 of about 6 people in the bar. We met the bartender, who gave us the new label of "booze hags," which Tracy and I kind of took offense at until the bartender said it was a compliment- but the jury's still out on that one. However, despite the quiet start to the night, we were able to find people to hang out with. We met two boys training to be in the circus, Mitchell and Zach:



And two native New Zealanders (Kiwis from here on out) helped keep us entertained- Brad "Brad like Brad Pitt but black with no hair" and Moanna (according to him, it means "ocean" but Tracy helped me remember it by saying "it rhymes with iguana?"). Here Tracy braids Moanna's rattail (insert gagging noises here).






Christchurch was definitely fun, and we look forward to having another night out there before we leave NZ, but the next morning it was time to get on our bus and head to Kaikoura to swim with wild dolphins.

- Posted by Katie