A night in Napier Prison

After such a bad start to our visit to the North Island, we were glad to find that Napier is a very pleasant town. After the whole town was flattened in an earthquake, the buildings were all re-built in Art Deco style, and there are tall palm trees lining the streets. The whole effect is very unusual and pretty to find in this country, and it doesn't really feel like anywhere else we've seen in New Zealand. The sea is a beautiful turquoise colour, the sun is shining, and we finally had smiles on our faces again. After consulting our various guide books, we decided to stay in a hostel rather than camp 3km outside the city at the nearest campsite, so Skry chose the destination for our first night - Napier Prison. This cost us $54 for a double bed in an otherwise empty four-bed cell (we were guaranteed the room to ourselves) with a toilet cubicle and sink in one corner. The jail was still in use up until very recently, early 90s if I remember rightly, and it certainly looks like it still has a lot of the original features. Our door was a huge clanking metal one with a grill in the top half, although we did have a curtain for privacy. All the rooms had signs over the doors, like Parole Board, Psychiatric Ward, Conjugal Visitation, and the kitchen still looked like an industrial sort of kitchen that could cook for many people at once. It wasn't the most luxurious place I've ever stayed, but it was certainly different.

After finding our bearings, we wandered into town to get some dinner, and ended up at the Mongolian Barbecue. This is a sort of self-service place - you choose a bowl of meat or tofu, then add whatever sauces and spices you want, and whatever vegetables, before it is all tossed together onto a vast hotplate and then scooped back into your bowl. I had chicken in sweet soy (wok oil, sesame oil, plum sauce, hoi sin sauce, garlic, and ginger), with noodles, carrots, baby sweetcorn, and onions, along with a big glass of lemonade and an icecream cone, for $15. Pretty good value.

Kayaking and ferry boats

The morning after arriving at the Jugglers' Rest, we breakfasted on fresh homemade bread and jam provided by Nikki, the hostel owner, and then her boyfriend Nathan took us kayaking around Picton harbour ($55 each). We hadn't kayaked before, so he spent some time on dry land getting us properly fitted with the safety gear and aware of how to sort ourselves out if we ended up in the water, and then we paddled off. Nathan was full of information about what we were seeing, and pointed out sting rays on the sandy floor as well as jellyfish, mullet, and various birds. Even though the harbour has a busy shipping lane, the water is kept crystal clear by thousands of mussels, which act as natural filters. I don't think they'd be good to eat, but they really do keep the water clean!



After a fun couple of hours in our little kayak, it was time to say goodbye to Nathan and switch to a slightly larger mode of transport - the Interislander ferry. Our departure time was 1.15pm, but because we had a car we had to check in by 12.15pm at the latest, which added an extra hour to the three-hour journey. We had time to make up sandwiches for our lunch and get some reading material sorted out before we got anywhere near the ferry itself. On board, we quickly made our way up to Deck 10, which is the sun deck, and found a bench so we could watch the world go by. Apparently this is one of the prettiest ferry journeys in the world, and I can certainly see how people would think so. The multiple inlets and tree-clad hills all around us as we left the South Island certainly did look better than what I've seen around other ports.

We found ourselves sitting next to another Irish girl and got chatting to her for most of the journey, so it didn't seem like long at all until it was 4.30pm and we had arrived in Wellington. I took the wheel in case the traffic was very busy or fast, and Skry navigated to get us to the Top Ten campsite in Lower Hutt ($31.50/night). This was quite a distance from Wellington, 10km I think, but is apparently the closest campsite. When we got there, the site itself was large, well laid out, and had good facilities, but the gound was stony and rock-hard, the location was noisy and smelly (it's in the middle of what looks like an industrial estate, and there was a lot of noise from nearby lorries), and our tent site backed onto a golf course with lots of young men shouting and hallooing at each other. We decided that our best option was to spend as little time there was possible, so we got a bus ($4 each) into Wellington itself. The plan was to go to the observatory, which is apparently open late on Tuesday nights when the sky is clear, so we found the cable car to the Botanic Gardens ($5 each, one way) and walked over to it, only to be disappointed to find it firmly closed and a sign saying that it is only open late on Friday and Saturday. I don't know where the difference in information came from, but we found ourselves in the Botanic Gardens at dusk with nothing to do apart from looking down over the city, so we just walked back down the hill, went for a pint, and got the bus back to Lower Hutt.

The plan had been to spend at least two nights in Wellington and see all the sights, but after such a bad start neither of us wanted to prolong this particular visit. The next morning (having found two golf balls in the vicinity of our tent that hadn't been there when we set it up), we got a refund for the second night and headed north to Napier.

Skry behind the wheel

We got word yesterday evening that the exemption had come through so I can supervise Skry as a learner, so our priority today was to get him some L-plates. With those securely stuck to the windows, he finally got a turn behind the wheel, and drove us along a very scenic route to Picton. It was an unexpectedly mountainous road in some parts, so he very quickly got a chance to try those sharp bends and steep hills that seem to be a common feature in New Zealand, but the car is easy to drive and the roads were good, so he had no trouble at all.

We reached Picton by early evening and checked ourselves into the Jugglers' Rest hostel. This cost us $32 for a night's camping, but it was well worth it to stay somewhere so friendly. With juggling equipment, poi sticks, hammocks, music, outdoor candles, organic veggies, and really pleasant staff, it was an excellent choice for us. We got our tent up (the ground was hard, but a mallet was provided) and headed into Picton to book ourselves onto the ferry to Wellington. This cost $190 one way for the two of us and the car, which is a lot of money but an unavoidable expense. After getting that sorted out, we headed to find some food. We ended up in an Indian restaurant, where I enjoyed the best Indian meal I've had since arriving in New Zealand, and a really gorgeous bottle of sauvignon blanc too. Returning to the hostel, we spent a while chilling out on the deck with some other tourists, and I fell asleep in the tent listening to one of them playing his guitar.

Relaxing in Abel Tasman

On Friday night we stayed in Nelson, in the Nelson City camp site, $32 for the night I think. It was pretty bad - disorganised, overcrowded in the tiny camping area, and horrible rock-hard ground that was nearly impossible to put tent pegs into - but it was the closest place we could find to camp. We had some dinner on the site, walked into town for a couple of drinks, got talking to some English people from the camp site for a while, and headed home. The next morning we took a quick look at the Nelson Saturday market, which is apparently quite well known and did have a lot of interesting stalls, but the city didn't grab me at all. There was nothing really wrong with it, I just didn't particularly care about being there. I didn't even take any photos of Nelson the whole time we were there.

After an early departure from Nelson - we weren't sorry to leave the stony ground, insects, and noisy neighbours - we headed northwest to Abel Tasman national park, for some fresh air and relaxation. Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park, apparently, but that doesn't detract from it at all. On arrival, we were somewhat surprised to find ourselves all of a sudden on a dead-end road, but luckily there was a hostel and campsite called the Barn right beside us, and we were able to set up camp there for $30 a night - not a bad rate considering we were right at the gateway to the park itself. We also got a lovely site under some shady trees - bonus! Because we arrived in the afternoon and were so well located, we were able to take a walk into the park itself almost straight away. 45 minutes of walking along a dirt track took us to Coquille Bay, where I enjoyed a swim before the two of us headed back. This part of the trail has lots of wild birds living around it, and we saw several birds with baby chicks crossing our path.

Because the whole place was so relaxing, we decided to stay for a second night rather than just one, so the next day we had a lie-in and then hopped on a water taxi ($25 each) to Anchorage, which is a little further north than we had been the previous evening. The water taxi dropped us off on the beach in Anchorage, and we walked the track back for 3 1/2 hours or so until we reached our campsite again. A lot of the route was quite wild-looking, with lots of greenery and ferns everywhere, but every now and again we would round a bend or crest a hill and would be greeted by the sight of a beautiful sandy beach or sheltered cove. The whole place was just so relaxing and so lovely to look at, but I have to admit that I was glad to sit down and rest by the time we reached the tent again!

The road to Waiuta

After packing up our things, we headed north to Westport to get some breakfast. On the way, we saw a sign for a seal colony, so we took a slight detour to go and see a colony of New Zealand fur seals. This was a nice break, and it was fun trying to spot the babies in among the rocks, but it wasn't too long before we were back in the car. Westport is a tiny town, just one main street really, but we got a great feed and I had possibly the nicest fruit juice drink I've ever tasted - apple, lemon, and Manuka honey. Tangy and thirst-quenching - I'd nearly go back to Westport just to get another one.

The aim of today was to get to Waiuta, a former mining town which is now just a ghost town because the mine collapsed and there were no jobs left to keep the people there. We were told that there was nothing much there, so it seemed like the perfect place to camp, chill out, and look at the stars. Honestly, if I had had any idea of what the road to Waiuta is like, we would never have gone near it, but ignorance is bliss, so we set out. The guide book had warned us that the road included several miles of unsealed gravel road, which sounded like we'd have to go slowly but it was nothing to really worry about. Ha! What the guide book should have said was that the road included 6km of one-lane gravel track, winding up the side of a mountain, with no passing places and nowhere to reverse. Once we started going up, there was no going back, and I honestly don't know what would have happened if we had met another vehicle coming towards us. Thank God we didn't. It was the worst driving experience of my life and I haven't the slighest intention of ever repeating it. Having said that, Waiuta itself was pretty cool. We got there and there was only one other car, which drove off in a different direction a couple of minutes after we arrived. There is only one house left, which still appears to be inhabited, and lots of mining equipment. All the mine shafts are closed off because they're dangerous, so we didn't see much of that, but it was lovely to be so isolated and in such a pretty spot.

Unfortunately, Skry was being tortured by the insect life. He is a magnet for sandflies - his legs are dotted with red bites like he has the measles - and even insect repellent wasn't helping. As well as the sandflies, he was being chased by bees, and it just didn't make for a relaxing time. In the end we had to give up and go back down that awful road (thankfully not meeting any traffic) and to Reefton. We spent the night in Reefton Motor Camp, $20, and had a lovely night there anyway. Reefton is a very pleasant little town where everyone seems to know each other, and everyone is very friendly. So it wasn't such a loss to not stay in Waiuta anyway, and we ended up finding somewhere that we would otherwise have driven straight through.

Punakaki and the west coast

Today we hit the road again, to pick up the trip that was abruptly cut short after the jetboat accident. Neither of us particularly wanted to go back to Hanmer Springs, so we headed straight for the west coast instead. En route, we stopped off at Kura Tawhiti to examine some massive boulders - it doesn't sound wildly exciting, but they were pretty big up close. This also gave me a chance to try out the new polarising filter for my camera, a belated anniversary present from Skry. It really makes the blue sky pop, so I expect I'll have some lovely landscape photos by the end of this trip.

After a somewhat torturous trip through Arthur's Pass - I don't enjoy those high twisting mountain roads - we made it to Greymouth, picked up some groceries, and headed on to Punakaki. We stayed at the Punakaki Beach Camp, which was $28 for the night and provided everything we needed. The main attraction of Punakaki is the pancake rocks, which are some sort of weird geological formation, and the rocky stacks and arches which are constantly pounded by the sea. It was impressive if you're into that sort of thing, but to be honest I was more excited by the deer and family of goats which we spotted in the trees along the side of the road. The trees on this coast are extremely dense and green, almost like a rain forest, with lots of tall ferns and New Zealand flax, so I can see how it would be a fantastic hiding place for wild animals.

I was pretty tired after the long drive from Christchurch, so I retired early, but Skry went out adventuring to a glow-worm cave up the road. I'm not sure what he expected before he set out, but from what he said I think that it was a bit unnerving to be alone, in a pitch-black cave, at midnight, with a full moon and a full tide. If it was a horror film, the whole audience would be yelling, "Don't go in there!". However, he came back in one piece, so I suppose it wasn't that dangerous after all...

Cashel Street

I realise that I haven't really said very much about Christchurch yet, even though we're living here, so I'd better rectify that.

Christchurch is pretty small by international city standards - about 350,000 people, I think, although I'm too lazy to look it up - but it's big by New Zealand standards. It's also the perfect size for my own taste - big enough to explore and have plenty to do in, but not so big that I'm liable to get lost! Where we're living is about a ten minute walk to the city centre, so it's very convenient for getting in and out, and even more so now that I've got a bike. In contrast to Belfast, I don't feel like my bike is liable to be vandalised or stolen if I let it out of my sight for half an hour, so I'm happy to take it in and lock it to a lamppost or bike stand while I dander around the shops. Without any income at the moment, obviously I can't buy much, but there's nothing to stop me looking!

There are plenty of streets with shops on them, but today I'll just tell you about what I see as I walk along Cashel Street, which is the street (actually a long road) that we're living on. Reaching Fitzgerald Avenue, I can see some hills in the distance, and once across the road I'm officially in the Four Avenues area of the city. The downtown area is surrounded by four avenues and this is one of them. This side of downtown is home to light industry, cash-and-carry stores, and car showrooms. Not hugely exciting until you get into the city centre proper. The start of the pedestrian area also marks the location of our favoured internet cafe, where we have wasted many hours over the last couple of weeks keeping in touch with our friends and family, and looking things up. I really miss having internet access at home, but at least this place is only $3/hour.

Further on down, on a stretch called City Mall, there are some shops that are familiar to me from home (although I don't know whose bright idea it was to put the Body Shop and Lush right beside each other), and other sellers that are definitely new. I can't remember regularly seeing fresh cherries for sale on the street anywhere in Ireland! There are lots of street- and road-side fruit sellers here, although out of town the stalls are unattended. It's just a stack of fruit or vegetables, an honesty box for money, and the trust that nobody is going to make off with the lot. It's hard to believe that people are that trusting still, but I'm really glad to see it and I hope that kind of thing isn't on the way out.

At the end of the pedestrian area of this street is the Bridge of Remembrance. This commemorates the soldiers lost in both World Wars, and in other battles as well I think. The bridge spans the Avon river, which is home to many ducks and a favourite lounging spot for office workers on their lunch breaks. It's also popular with punts and kayaks, although I didn't see any today. Cashel Street terminates at the edge of Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens. This isn't somewhere I have been yet, but I'll get there at some point. Expect more photos and an update then!

A minor update

Sorry for the lack of updates - I have written several, but I keep forgetting to copy them across to my USB drive and upload them from the internet cafe. Anyway, not a whole lot has happened. We got bikes, I started looking for work (no interviews yet), and Skry is still having physio for his shoulder. We hope to resume travelling this weekend, if the exemption has been granted by then so I can supervise Skry when he drives. Without an exemption, he'll need to find somebody who has held a New Zealand licence for at least two years, which is going to be tricky. And I'd like to be able to share the driving on this leg of the trip!

Firemen and old cars

Today was an absolute scorcher - 33c according to the news, and it certainly felt that hot. Lou was at work, so Skry, Phil and I took a stroll into town. The guys were doing their own thing, and I headed to Cathedral Square, where there was a Firefighter Combat Challenge event going on. "The toughest 2 minutes in sport", according to the t-shirts that I saw here and there. I don't know if this is a common event or something that everyone else is familiar with, but I'd never heard of it before anyway. In this sweltering heat, relay teams of uniformed firemen were dragging hoses up flights of stairs, hauling weights up to the top, hammering things, running with hoses around obstacle courses, and dragging dummies hither and yon. I don't know how they could bear it in that heat, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves anyway.

New Zealand has a large population of very old cars. I think the weather here, and the fact that they don't salt the roads in wintertime, means that cars don't rust as quickly as they do in Ireland, and seem to have much longer lifespans. Although the sensible, practical side of me knows that I really want a car that's reliable, comfortable, and has air conditioning, it would be so cool to be driving around in something that's way older than I am. Maybe someday I'll have one of these in the garage!

Skry's out

Just to let y'all know, Skry was released from hospital yesterday afternoon after a CT scan showed he had no damage to the bones in his neck. A bit of physio for his shoulder should see him back to normal again.

A news article on the jetboat crash

This is from the TV3 website. I'm pasting it here too in case they take the page down. There's also some video on the site but I don't know how to paste it in here so you'll have to go there yourselves if you haven't already seen it.

Five people have been treated in Christchurch Hospital after a jet boating accident near Hanmer Springs. Six other passengers and the driver were also injured when the jet boat ran aground near the end of the tourist ride at around midday.

The accident happened on the Waiau River in the Thrillseekers Canyon, just south of Hanmer Springs. While the boat was largely undamaged, the passengers and staff on board were all injured. However, the 12 passengers were saved from more serious injury. Constable John Eagle: “The driver
managed to control the jet boat, all credit to him, he kept it upright so nobody was trapped or in danger at any point.”
Most were able to walk to dry land where they were assessed by local ambulance staff.

The fire crews and local ambulance and doctor were doing and excellent job in extracting the patients - they managed to get everyone out of the boat in a timely fashion. Two rescue
helicopters airlifted five patients to Christchurch hospital, some with minor leg injuries and shortness of breath, while two others suffered moderate and serious back and neck injuries.
The Hanmer Springs Thrillseekers Company is running an internal investigation into the grounding which is the first blemish on the company's safety record since 1985.

However, the tourism company has received praise from police for the manner in which they dealt with the situation.
Constable John Eagle: “I can't credit them enough; they had
everything under control when we got here. They have good radio communications and they know the river better than anybody else, they did a fantastic job.”
The company's owner told 3 News: "We put our emergency
protocol in place. When an incident involves people and water, in the canyon we throw everything at it. People come first."
The incident is being investigated by Maritime Safety Authority - they will determine if the incident is the result of driver error or a mechanical fault.

An update on Skry

So much for, "There's nothing broken, you can go". Skry got a call this morning from the doctor in Hanmer Springs, saying that his x-ray had been re-examined and there was a chance he had a crushed vertabra, so he had to go and be re-examined. First of all we went at about noon to the 24 hour clinic where he was x-rayed yesterday, so they could refer him to the hospital if necessary. Two hours later, having finally got the right person to review the x-ray, we were told that there was still some doubt and he would be treated as if he had a broken neck. This involved an extremely uncomfortable neck brace, Skry lying flat on his back, being taken by ambulance to the hospital, and lying on a trolley in the corridor for another few hours. Obviously we were both bored stupid, but at least I was able to see around me, read the extremely dated magazines (some from 1992!) and watch other patients coming and going. Poor Skry could see nothing but the ceiling, and wasn't allowed to sit up, or eat or drink anything.

By 7.45pm we had finally been seen by a doctor, and were waiting for him to finally clear the x-ray and send us home. Another half hour later, he returned to say that there was no consultant available to clear the x-ray and so Skry had to stay in overnight in order to get a CT scan tomorrow. All this even though every doctor we saw was 99% sure that nothing was wrong. Neither of us had eaten anything since breakfast, and Skry hadn't been allowed to drink anything until the doctor saw him, and of course the hospital canteen closes at 7.30pm. The poor guy had to eat vending machine junk for his dinner as there was no proper food available at all. I left him just after he was transferred to a ward, lying on his bed looking ready to be bored stupid for another 12 hours at least. I hope the batteries in the Nintendo DS lasted for a while!

My first and probably last jet boat trip

Today my blog was meant to be telling you all about our morning spent jet-boating down the Waiau River and a relaxing afternoon in the thermal spa before going out for dinner in Hanmer Springs. Instead, I'll tell you about our near-death experience. Apologies for the lack of personal photos, which would have been interesting, but I did not take my camera or phone with me on the day.

The morning started off great. The weather was beautiful, and we had a tasty and filling breakfast in a little cafe before going to the Thrillseekers shop to await our lift to the jetboating centre. We were about 10 minutes early and spent most of that time chatting to the lady behind the counter, who was really friendly and was offering all sorts of advice about buying houses in New Zealand. It wasn't long before the bus arrived to pick us up and we got chatting to the driver, Ben, who was also really friendly and turned out to be our jet boat driver as well. A five minute drive took us to the centre and we walked with the other passengers down a steep road to the riverside.

Having donned our life jackets, we all took our seats in the boat. Skry and I were in the back row, and beside me was an English lady called Rose and her partner Ross. There weren't any seatbelts, but we were shown how to brace our legs in the footwells and hold onto the handrail in front of us, because the ride was going to be quite lively and we'd be swooping in and out from the rocks. Ben laughingly said something about how he'd only been doing this for three days (not true) and he'd try not to hit anything - I bet those words came back to haunt him. The boat revved up and we were off, skimming along the surface of the water and dodging around obstacles. It seemed impossible for us to miss some of the rocks and cliff walls, but yet we did, although I did feel one bump underneath that really felt like we'd hit a rock. The ride for the first 10 minutes or so was just as lively as we'd been promised, and we all got a shower when the boat did a 180 degree turn in pretty much the length of itself, but then Ben slowed the engine and nosed in to a rock ledge. I thought he was going to tell us something about the area, but he came down to the back of the boat and leaned in behind us to look at the inner workings of the engine. He said that the bilge pump was taking in water instead of pumping it out, but there was nothing to worry about and we'd just go back to the dock and get it sorted out. We headed back the way we came, taking a direct route rather than doing the fancy manoeuvers from earlier.

Before we had reached the dock, something went terribly wrong. Because we were at the back, I couldn't really see what was happening, but all of a sudden we were bumping over rocks, and that is not something that a jet boat is designed to do. We hit something big and the boat bounced crazily, throwing us to one side, and then we hit another big rock and were thrown to the other side before coming to a slamming halt. It was virtually impossible to keep hold of the handrail or stop ourselves from being flung into our neighbours. When I was capable of thought again, my first thought was, "I've broken my arm", because my left elbow was in agony, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn't that serious and I had just bruised the bone. I turned to Skry as soon as I was able to see how he was, and he seemed relatively unhurt too apart from a scrape down his right side. Turning to my right, I immediately saw that Rose was in a bad way. She was obviously in extreme pain, and said she couldn't breathe. She was clutching her left arm and moaning with what little breath she had. Ben made his way back to our row, checking on everyone else as he came, but it was obvious that Rose was in the most immediate trouble. After calling for the emergency services, there really wasn't much that any of us could do but wait, stranded in the middle of a river with sheer cliff edges between us and the road. Rose was struggling to stay conscious, and Ross was doing his best to keep her talking, so I held her head up and talked to her too. We were afraid to move her or let her lie down, so we held her upright and kept shouting at her to open her eyes if she closed them. She could barely speak except to say that she wanted to go to sleep, and her breathing was really laboured. I honestly thought she was going to die on us there and then.

Some of the other passengers were in a bad way too. An Australian lady in front of me had hurt her back very badly and was in too much pain to even sit down - she was trying to pace about, but of course there was no room to do that - and a man in front of her had also hurt his back quite badly. A little boy had slammed his face against the handrail, so he was in some pain and his teeth were almost knocked out, and other passengers had hurt themselves to varying degrees. Back pain was what seemed to affect most people. Of the 12 people on board, there were only three of us that didn't seem to have really hurt ourselves at all - me, Skry, and the mother of the little boy. It seemed to take forever for the emergency services to arrive, although it probably wasn't more than half an hour before boatloads of St.John Ambulance staff and other rescue services started to turn up. As well as the boats, it wasn't too much longer before an emergency helicopter arrived, and then another. Luckily, there was a sort of shingle beach nearby where they could land, and the river was shallow enough for the rescuers to wade over to us. Rose was given oxygen and morphine, and eventually she and the other woman and man were rolled onto blankets, lifted onto stretchers, and carried across to the helicopters. The whole rescue operation took a long time, because of the difficulty of accessing the boat in the first place, and then working with spinal injuries and stretchers in such cramped conditions, but I have to give all credit to the staff of Thrillseekers and all the rescue people for being calm and efficient and looking after everybody as best they could.

Eventually we were allowed to leave the boat, and Skry and I were the first two people to wade across to the beach. The river was thigh-deep in places but wasn't very swift where we were crossing, so the biggest risk to me was that my plastic Croc shoes kept trying to float away off my feet. We made it to dry land and were followed by the other walking wounded, who were all assessed by the St. John Ambulance guys. Skry had realised by this stage that his right shoulder was starting to get sore and he had wrenched it somehow, so he was given a bright green wrist tag and marked as needing further assessment. By the time all the stretchers had been loaded onto the helicopters and everyone assessed, there was a jet boat available to take those of us who didn't need immediate hospital treatment back to the dock. I have to admit that I wasn't terribly keen to get back onto one of those things, but the driver was very considerate of what we had just been through, and the pain that people were in, so the short trip back was quite sedate. We were met by a jeep and ferried back to the activity centre, where a more thorough assessment of the injured was done, and all sorts of forms filled out. New Zealand isn't a litigious country, and I think the main reason for that is that accidents are covered by a sort of national insurance called ACC. This compensates people in the case of accident, and pays something like 80% of their wage if they can't work, so it was important that all the injured people had a form filled out to say what happened.

The Thrillseekers staff were all obviously shocked by what had happened - I believe it's the first time a jet boat has ever crashed like that, and certainly it was the first time for them - but they were great, fetching us hot and cold drinks, passing around cold wet clothes to cool us down after several hours in the sun, and repeatedly asking if we were okay. The lady from the Hanmer Springs shop had arrived, and she was visibly relieved to see me and Skry sitting there in one piece. She said that she had been so worried about "the lovely Irish couple" and she couldn't remember if we had booked for jetboating or rafting, so she was delighted to see that we were alright. With five people in total taken by helicopter to hospital, she wasn't sure if we were among those or not.

After further assessment on Skry's shoulder, it was decided that he should go to see a doctor, so the two of us and Ross (who was suffering back and knee pain) were ferried by ambulance to the surgery in Hanmer. The doctor arrived a few minutes after us, and took care of the two guys, and those who weren't being dealt with chatted with the two ambulance crew. They told us that Rose would most likely be fine once she got to hospital, so that was a relief. Skry got painkillers and a referral to a clinic in Christchurch to get an x-ray, so we had to return to the campsite, pack up our tent, and drive two hours back to Christchurch. I could really have done without that - my elbow was painful and getting stiffer by the minute, and we were both quite drained after the whole experience - but there was no choice in the matter. We couldn't continue on our holiday anyway, and naturally Skry wanted the x-ray as soon as possible, so I didn't have a chance to relax at all or get some proper food - I ate some pasta straight from the saucepan - but had to keep concentrating for another few hours.


We eventually got to the clinic and were met there by Phil and Lou, got the x-ray done - apparently no bones broken, but he will need further treatment - and got back to the flat in Cashel Street. We were too late to catch the 6pm news, but apparently two stations covered it and there was some video footage from the TV chopper crew which showed me in it. Only a month in New Zealand and already I'm on the news! But it was a long day, and after a quick meal I was more than ready to draw the curtains on the whole experience.

Hanmer Springs, Day 1

Today we headed off for the second leg of our South Island tour. We're starting off with two nights in Hanmer Springs, then Blenheim, Nelson, and a few other places around the west coast, so the trip should be nine or ten nights in all depending on whether places are good enough to justify two nights' camping or just one.

Hanmer Springs is an Alpine village about two hours' drive from Christchurch. The village itself is tiny - there are only 700 permanent residents - but it is surrounded by forested mountains which look lovely in the distance, and it is also home to some natural thermal springs. We haven't tried those yet but I hope to tomorrow. After setting up our tent in the Top 10 campsite, we headed out to get some food, and then rented bikes from the Hanmer Springs Adventure Centre for a couple of hours. As it turned out, our arrival at 3.25pm meant that we wouldn't get the full two hours that we were paying $25 each for, since the shop closed at 5pm, but we decided to suck it up and just go as far as we could in that time. I was really happy to be back on a bike again, and the breeze in our faces was very cooling in the 30c heat, but things went awry quite quickly as Skry's chain kept coming off and his gears wouldn't change. We had to turn back and go to the shop for a replacement, knocking another half hour off our available time. What was worse, despite acknowledging that they had given Skry a faulty bike and this had ruined the first part of our ride, the manager wouldn't give us a refund on the second hour - "We don't do refunds". So we ended up paying for two hours and getting one - I was NOT impressed.

Once our route map trail led us into the forest, it was no time at all before we had taken a wrong turning somewhere and ended up on an extremely narrow dirt track which was clearly designed for serious mountain bikers. It was uphill, it was too narrow for me to cycle (I was scared of wobbling off into the gully on the immediate right), and the heat and exercise on top of a big plate of venison sausages and mash was making me feel like I could throw up at any second. This part of the ride wasn't much fun! But eventually we found our bearings again, and also found a proper gravel road with a gentle downhill incline, so we freewheeled most of the way back.

After returning the bikes and retiring to the tent to lie down for an hour, the temperature had dropped enough for us to venture out and tackle some mini golf. This was load of fun and we treated ourselves to a well-earned pint before heading back to the campsite for the night.

Mini Golf Misadventures

The last few days have been fairly quiet. We are planning to do some more travelling for a week or so, departing on Saturday, so that will be more exciting, but nearly everything was closed over the last week so there wasn't much point in leaving Chch before now. We've been to the beach a couple of times, and I got to enjoy my new body board while splashing about in the waves at Woodend, and we also fitted in a game of crazy golf. It was well named; the golf course was clearly laid before an earthquake or some other such traumatic event, because the tarmac courses were far from flat, and some of them had canyons running right across the middle. There was also the occasional plant rearing its head through the middle. It made for an amusing but very frustrating game!

However, the lull did give us a good opportunity to swot up on the New Zealand Road Code, and yesterday morning Skry and I headed to the AA shop to take our driving tests. My application to convert my UK driving licence cost $84, and involved some form filling and then the theory test. Skry was also taking the theory test as he has applied for his learning licence (his application and test cost about $80). Luckily for us, the rules of the road here are very similar to those used at home, so we already had a good background knowledge and it was more a question of picking out the few bits that are too specific to remember all the time, and the bits that really are different here. Of the latter, the most obvious one is the rule that says you must give way to those coming from your right at intersections. This gets quite confusing for me, and I always have to think about it when I'm turning left at a crossroads, and remember to check for people coming from the road directly opposite me who are turning right. In any case, we both passed our theory test with flying colours, and I now have a full New Zealand driving licence. Skry has his learner licence, but he can't get behind the wheel without a qualified supervisor, and part of that qualification involves having held an NZ licence for at least two years. Obviously I don't fit that category, so I have to apply for an exemption, which costs another $22 and takes about ten days to come through. The delay's annoying, but hopefully it will have come through by the time we get back from our next trip, and he'll be able to take a few turns behind the wheel whenever we visit the North Island.

New Year's Eve Celebrations

It being New Year's Eve today, we wanted to take part in at least some of the festivities, without having to drive miles away from Christchurch. Luckily for us, there was a stage set up in Cathedral Square, with music and fireworks, so we headed down to that at about 11.30pm. There was a large crowd (15,000 according to the news reports), but it was very friendly and pleasant from what we saw. It was such a change from Belfast - no spides, no nastiness, no worry about walking around the town late at night. There were some policemen dotted here and there, but they didn't seem to be more than a friendly reminder not to get too carried away, and plenty of people were walking up to wish them a happy new year. It was just so much NICER than what we have become accusomed to. I know things aren't perfect here either - in fact there was a recent news report saying that Christchurch is the most violent city in New Zealand - but it's way less violent than where we came from. I have yet to read anything about innocent people being beaten up or stabbed just for walking down the street and making eye contact with the wrong people.

Anyway, suffice it to say that we enjoyed the atmosphere. The band playing when we arrived was typical try-to-please-everyone stuff, nothing to write home about, but it filled the gap between 11.45pm and midnight. The clock gradually counted down to zero and there was the obligatory cheering as the fireworks went off above us. A piper took to the stage and ushered the new year in with the sound of Auld Lang Syne (I think!) and as the last fireworks faded from the sky we walked back to Cashel Street with the satisfaction of knowing we had made the obligatory effort but could now return home without any hassle whatsoever.