Just a quickie today!

Well Christchurch finally decided to let some much needed sunshine into the city on Sunday. I woke up (very late again) to the bells from the cathedral ringing and sunshine beaming through the windows which put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. I started panicking the night before because I thought I wasn't going to make it to Auckland for my flight on the 22nd, but I phoned up and its all ok, thank god! Anyway I got on the tram again and headed to the Arts Center where there was a market going on. It was a very English affair with families around, food and clothes stalls and autumn leaves on the ground and people playing really crap folk music...you can't have it all! Then I moved up to the Botanical Gardens and got lost amongst the lakes and trees (oh and the army of ducks everywhere). It's true what they say, this is a very English city (more like a town though). In the evening I bought a soup which was utterly digusting. So the next day I headed off to the supermarket and invested in a food bag, steak, apples, cereal, milk and whatever my change could afford. In the evening I met up with a guy called Luke who I met at breakfast (well more like lunch by I surfaced) and then aload of guys from my dorm room who were a mix of Irish and English. After a few drinks (including a jager shot!!! :D) I went/stumbled out of the bar to bed because I had an early start the next day.
We had to be ready to get on our Kiwi Experience bus for 7.10. The kiwi experience bus, for those who don't know, is basically an open-dated bus ticket round New Zealand with mainly 18-30 year olds. It's mainly for budget travellers, so they arrange for you to stay in hostels and you can make your own food etc to save money so you can do activities like bungee jumps or sky diving, which they can also arrange for you. 7 is by far the earliest I've had to get up so far! It was horrific. Anyway got on the bus with Luke and headed off to Kaikoura. Bus ride was actually really good, the views of the mountains and countryside were fantastic (plus the awesome soundtrack being played, Dolly Parton or Simon and Garfunkel anyone?)
Kaikoura is a small town of only 3000 people. It located on the coast and surround by mountains, which are just starting to gather snow on them. It's a beautiful place and a prime spot for whale-watching. However I wasn't really expecting to go here, cos I thought the buses went the other way round the island (oops!), so I decided not to go whale-watching and save my money for something else later on. So instead I bought teabags and sugar and had my first cup of tea since I left home! It was a real highlight of the day, which may sound strange, but it's the little things you miss sometimes. Tonight we are going to a pub quiz, which should be rather entertaining, then onto Nelson via Picton and some lakes or something. The weather is good, the people are great, New Zealand is looking up, init!
Ciao