October 27th and 28th – Cairns to Christchurch

I returned to the hostel in Cairns from the boat quite exhausted and water logged from diving. The dry land below my feet still swayed like a boat on the ocean and I felt like I was in a daze. I handled some business on the computer and chatted with a German couple staying in my room. The poor guys bought a car for 5000 Aussie dollars only to have it crap out in the middle of the outback and they ended up back where they started, out a car and all that cash. Their spirits were surprisingly high, an emotional state that can only be maintained during a state of perma-travel. I envy their smiles and embrace of the “no worries” attitude of Australasia and traveling in general. I am working my way there, I still tend to look for my non-existent watch/phone and have temporary panic attacks about what I should be doing until I realize I have nothing to do and should also have no worries.

I headed out to the bar to meet my diving companions and met a few others along the way. I met a set of American college student at my friend’s hostel. Americans are amazing creatures. This group of a dozen or so was on an organized trip from universities all over doing research and such. This is the main travel outlet for most Americans as it is rare to find Americans this far from home just traveling around. They were amazed to bump into me as I was the first traveling American they had met since arriving in September. They listened in attentive amazement as I told them my story and my plans for the coming months. It was fun and I hope they gained some perspective, I think they did. It was also fun chatting Tarheel sports with a guy from the group studying at Chapel Hill. The beers went down easy and I was quickly feeling the effects due to my exhausted condition. I headed back to my hostel to sleep.

My flight to New Zealand was around noon-time and travel and the time change would eat the whole day. I still felt exhausted and a little hung over from the night before so the hours passed in a blur of sleeping and dazed airport wanderings. I was finally feeling better when I landed in Christchurch around midnight local time. I was entering a new country with no plan and no reservations. I went through customs with a familiar face, it turns out the man next to me going through the stringent New Zealand customs security was none other than Stevie Wonder. I didn’t bother him, but it was a bit surreal and pretty cool.I managed a public bus to the city center and walked over to a hostel I had heard was near. Luckily they had a bed. The city was quiet, I wasn’t so tired due to sleeping most of the day, but with little other choice I went bed.

I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to tackle as much New Zealand as possible over the next two weeks. I scrounged up so New Zealand reading materials and headed off for a coffee and bagel in the center Cathedral Square; for those that know me that was very relaxing and I felt the plan slowly coming together in my head and had a chat with a travel desk in my hostel and got some ideas for the best plan of attack.I then headed out to explore the city and to sort out in my head the information gathered. I had head there is very little to see in Christchurch which is the 3^rd largest city in New Zealand, but i needed to check it out for myself. Looking around you quickly realize that if this is the 3^rd largest city, there must not be many people here. The streets of the city center are quiet and quaint. It is quite beautiful, Victorian architecture abounds and you really get a strong UK feeling.

I wandered towards the botanical gardens to have a walk. I stopped by the regional museum that showed some of the artifacts of the original inhabitants of New Zealand, the Maori. It was a pretty cool little museum and I was glad to have stumbled upon it. I continued into the gardens. It is devastatingly gorgeous and spring has brought about the perfect bloom of the sprawling flowering plants. The smell was intoxicating, the kind of smell that you can feel in your gut and makes your whole body relax. Botanical gardens are the focal point of so many cities in Australia and New Zealand and I wonder why this is not a more common practice around the world.

The uplifting feeling of the nature allowed me to process my plan. I have decided to stay in Christchurch tomorrow to do a white-water rafting trip that will last the whole day. I have been told it is the best rafting trip in the whole of New Zealand. I also purchased a hop on – hop off bus tour of the south island that will take me on a loop around the island and back to Christchurch. It seems excursions here are really going to add up in terms of cost, but I think it is the only way to really experience the place. The NZ dollar exchange rate is also very favorable now which is helpful. It is also cheaper for daily items than is Australia so I will just have to pinch pennies where I can.

I will spend the rest of today taking care of thinks I must do online for South America and Antarctica as well as do some laundry. Tomorrow I will get on with the getting outdoors.