Jailhouse Rocks

Well I’ve been let out of jail today after a six night stay. I’m about to leave Christchurch by a different means of transport but more of that later.

Getting to jail was more of a problem than I’d anticipated despite only involving two buses. As I got on the second bus I thought that nothing strange was happening despite the fact the female driver did not charge me anything. As the driver pulled up outside the wrong hostel I discovered that the driver was heading back to the depot for the night and thought she was being helpful. After much confusion and swearing to the control room, the driver told me that she would give me a private tour of the city on the way back to the jail!

I was staying at a hostel on the outskirts of the city that was based in the old jail building. The hostel was very modern and finished very well. It was a bit strange to be sitting in the central area eating breakfast, I half expected Mr McKay to appear and give us an earful.

Christchurch is on the South Island of NZ and is a small city with a very colonial feel. The street names are a mixture of English/world locations and the first explorers/inhabitants. There is a magnificent cathedral, botanical gardens and punting on the river – you could be in an English city.
The weather was much cooler on the South Island, yet despite this I was able to explore the city easily on foot and enjoy all the magnificent attractions. I also watched the second NZ vs. England Twenty20 Cricket match (another English victory!) and enjoyed outdoor theatre in the form of a comedy show in the park.

I made the decision regarding transport around NZ and began the search for a Van! After visiting many sales and test driving a few vans I decided on a 1994 Mazda Bongo van. The next two days were spent arranging a pre purchase inspection, cash, new tyres, registration transfer, tax and a lemon check. The van is good value and despite a few nuances of a vehicle that’s covered 194,000km (smoke, rattles etc) I hope that it will be good enough to transport me round the Island for the next few months and will be going to the shops shortly to stock up on camping gear before heading off on the open road.

From now on access to the internet might be slightly more difficult but I’ll try and update you on the road trip shortly......