Monday 11 October 2004

Week 86, Day 562

I'm definitely writing on here a lot more than I expected. Thing is, when plans don't go accordingly we seem to end up at net cafes. Today we travelled from Christchurch to Kaikoura for the second time and booked ourselves in for swimming with dolphins. On arrival we were told the tour was cancelled due to high winds. Bugger. I was really looking forward to it too. So will either have to do it in another part of NZ or maybe save it for the Aussie trip.

The last few days have been pretty relaxing. After Dunedin, we stayed at Lake Tekapo - one of the many lakes in NZ used for hydrolic purposes. We passed through Lake Pukaki which wasn't quite the nuclear-blue colour it was the last time I saw it when driving to Queenstown with Nikki, Jules and Amanda in September 2002.

At Lake Tekapo we climbed yet another mountain, Mt John, to take in the views. Sadly, too many clouds disrupted what would have been a breathtaking view but it was still worth the effort. That evening we sat down to a big homemade stir-fry and ended up chatting with four girls - three Irish, one Welsh - who were quite a laugh.

Yesterday's trip from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch was briefly made interesting when John the Boring Driver told us on arriving at the small town of Geraldine that "this is actually the birthplace of Jimi Hendrix, and over to your left are the Jimi Hendrix memorial toilets ... " to which our Irish and Welsh friends were astounded. It took some convincing to prove that John the Boring Driver was actually taking the piss. They had to ask him if he was, to which he said he was pulling their legs. So determined were they to believe in this downright false information that Tina asked "Did he mean that in reference to the memorial toilets or Jimi Hendrix being born here?". Suddenly Nieve exclaims, pointing to her guidebook, "Look, it's here on this page!". Tina and Kat rush over to check out the page and after browsing for 20 seconds, Nieve bursts out laughing. She had them hook, line and sinker. (And for those who are still wondering, no, Jimi Hendrix was not born in NZ!)

Last night Alex and I decided to head out for a few drinks. We had done a bit of CD shopping earlier in the day and received some pointers from a lovely music store assistant about where to go. We started at The Tap Room along the canal, and then headed down to Carbon, a club which plays funky soul music on Sunday nights. I couldn't believe how much like Club 77 it was. The same underground, low ceilinged, dim, dodgy nightclub. It was a pity that the place was so quiet, but it was a Sunday night, and it is in Christchurch! I really liked it though and the music was good - some Curtis Mayfield and a dub cover version of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" were two highlights. Last night's antics have left me feeling not very with it as mixing cider and Apple Archers is never a good idea.

Think I'll go take a rest now.
x Vanessa

PS: Listened to the Killers' album on Alex's iPod and loved it. "All These Things That I Have Done" is definitely my anthem for this extended summer I am having.