We are home now from our New Zealand trip and will publish a series of posts written during our trip. We will also post a video later summarising our trip. Hope you enjoy!
After a day (or half a day) of packing, we got up at 4 am in order to catch the train to Sydney at 4:39 am. First thing, we checked Uber. There were a couple of drivers around, and we ordered one with a time margin in mind.
As we got out of the house, the car had started driving the wrong way, and we started to become stressed. So with less than fifteen minutes left ’til the train was due to leave, we ordered a taxi.
Of course, as soon as the taxi appeared so did the Uber. The Uber was first, so we got into the taxi drivers dismay. (We did apologise to him, though).
The Uber driver drove like a maniac, in what I assume is not a completely legal fashion. But we got to Hamilton station with time to spare, so all was well.
Half groggy with sleep, we rode the train for three hours. When we got to Sydney at 7:11 am, we changed trains to get to the airport. At the airport, we noticed the architect did not assume people would come by train and decided just to put in one escalator and one lift.
One long escalator queue later, we managed to find our way to the check-in kiosks of Air New Zealand where we got our boarding cards and bag tags, and then dropped our bags at the counter.
Side note: Air New Zealand has one of the most beautiful graphic profiles we’ve seen. It is present through everything from the aeroplanes to the clothing of the personnel.
The flight was a bit late in departing, but it was pleasant otherwise. We got our second breakfast, which we thought seemed fitting for the occasion as the LotR fans we are.
In the seat next to us, a businessman sat who seemed really hang over. He didn’t eat any of his food and only ordered two Bloody Mary drinks. He gave Linnea his breakfast muffin, which was nice.
When we had landed, we got through immigrations and customs fairly quickly. Before getting out of customs, we withdrew some money and took some brochures, during this time we were sniffed by a customs dog four times. He was sniffing for fruit and other illegal items.
From the airport, we took the bus into town and walked the rest of the way to the Airbnb where we were going to stay. It took some time to walk, but we managed to find a park which we could walk along. The park was filled with daffodils, which we associate with Easter in Sweden partially because they are called “Easter lilies” in Swedish.
When we got to the accommodation, the hosts weren’t home, but they had given us instructions on how to get in. We got settled in our room and greeted the hosts when they arrived. Our hosts were Andy and Kat, two Germans who have been living and working in Christchurch for two years. They were kind and gave us some suggestions on where to eat.
We went out to a Moroccan place where we had a sharing plate. It had falafels, olives, carrot sticks, and more. As we were leaving, Gustav bought a Turkish Delight because he wanted to try it. It was good too. When we were walking back, fireworks started some distance away. A nice way to end the first day in New Zealand.
We started our second day with complimentary breakfast, muesli with milk and mocha coffee. After that, we headed out to the city with our first stop at the botanical garden. The botanical garden was really big, and we walked around there for a couple of hours. The roses weren’t blooming, but many other flowers were blooming.
We looped around the park and got back to where we started. We went into Canterbury Museum which stands in the garden, where we say a couple of different exhibitions. First, we were in an exhibition about New Zealand starting with the Maori people and their evolvement, then come the colonisation and the immigration. There was also an exhibition about Air New Zealand in order to celebrate their 75 anniversary.
After our museum visit, we went to the Re:start mall which is built using containers and was built after the earthquake in 2011. We bought and ate some food, and then we went into some stores and had a look around.
We ended our tour in the city by visiting 185 empty white chairs, a memorial artwork for the 185 people who died during the 2011 earthquake. Every chair was different and selected for the person it represented. The most heartbreaking with was to see the baby car seat in the front row. The artwork really makes you think about life, how precious it is, and how sudden it can be taken away.
Next to the artwork stood a church called the Cardboard Church, which also had been constructed after the earthquake. It had interesting architecture and a unique kind of window art.
As we walked home, we bought some ingredients, and then we made burgers when we got back to the accommodation. We talked a bit to Andy and Kat as we ate, and it was interesting to hear their views on the life in New Zealand and how it is different from Germany and Europe.
Hugs,
Gustav and Linnea
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