24 Hours in Christchurch (2 of ?)

The really nifty part of dinner, though, was the fact that conversation ended up spreading to the next table -- the only group left in the restaurant by the time we were finished.  (It was an office out for their Christmas dinner.  They'd been enjoying after-dinner beers since I arrived.)  Anyway, they'd been trying to remember a song title or something, so shouted over to ask the guy I'd been talking with -- and then he told them I was from California and in Christchurch for one day, and all of a sudden the next table was asking me questions and giving me travel advice.  Real friendly.  Seeing as I hadn't actually met any New Zealanders who weren't in the tourism industry, it was just great hanging out for a bit and joking about 80s music.  ("Name a Devo song that's not 'Whip It.'")

Before I left, the Kiwi fellow invited me out to coffee after, but I declined -- I think the wife was a little upset he'd been speaking more with me rather than their Japanese guest.  So I let them leave ahead of me and made my way out of the restaurant alone.  On the way out, two people from the office party stood up and shook my hand and wished me well (which I thought was SO sweet) and told me to be sure I told everyone I met some "average Kiwis" -- and I figure that if that's the average, they've really got some nice people out here.

24 Hours in Christchurch (1 of ?)

I'm going to let you in on my big secret for travelling alone.  I haven't been able to take advantage of it on this trip yet because I haven't been in a big enough city.  But Christchurch is big enough, so last night, I went in search of a Japanese Teppan Yaki restaurant.

OK, I'll admit I kinda dig eating there anyway.  But when travelling alone, it's TERRIFIC -- because they seat you at a table with other people, so you get to have a good meal and some dinnertime conversation -- which is generally lacking when you're on your own.

So, last night, I hunted down "Fuji."  Got there around 9:00.  They had a couple tables going, and seated me at a table in the back with room for 8, but only one other couple there.  The odd thing was -- they'd already started.  Cooking Guy was chopping away at their food, and they were eating their salads and tossing back their miso soup.  I was a little disappointed by this, because I couldn't really start up a conversation with them while they were enraptured by Cooking Guy setting fire to a puddle of sake.

After Cooking Guy finished with their food, he thanked me for waiting and started on mine.  Weird to get a solo performance, but whatever.  When he was just about wrapping up, they seated another party at our table -- hooray!  It was a local couple and an older Japanese gentleman who was their guest.

The local fellow immediately struck up a conversation with me, and we had a great chat with topics ranging from the location of the John Deere factory to New Zealand's inferiority complex when it comes to Australia.  When I disclosed I was from California, they all asked about Arnold, and laughed when I called him the "Governator."  (The Japanese fellow had not followed the conversation, so they explained to him, and he nodded his head and laughed, "Ohhhh!  Schwarzenegger!" and I thought, "wow, it's even funny to people who don't speak English.")

Franz Josef to Christchurch (1 of 2)

So, I got the heck out of Franz Josef this morning.  Back on the bus line with the cute little rest stops.  This time, breakfast was at "The Bushman's Cafe" -- one of those woodsy places with a sign that says, "Save NZ Forests -- Eat a Possum" and advertises "Bambi Burgers."  (No, I didn't.  Not for breakfast.)  We also had a forty minute break in a small town, which was nice as they had a post office and I had remembered 3 other people on my gift list.  :)  Also, I was just about finishing my book, so had to buy a new one.

... a moment here on prices.  Things are priced weird here.  I don't mean the exchange rate is weird, I mean some things are way cheaper and others are way pricier than I would normally expect.  This is throwing me, as I've never really experienced this travelling before -- normally ALL things are either cheaper or pricier than they are in the States, but keep to a recognizable ratio.

Example:  I bought a paperback book.  It cost $18.  That's adjusting the price into U.S. money.  Eighteen freakin' dollars for a paperback book!!!  But for lunch, I had tea and scones.  That's a cup of tea, two scones, jam, and cream.  Adjusted to U.S. money, that cost me $4. Quite the steal.  So, yeah, way confused on the prices here.

 

Franz Josef to Christchurch (2 of 2)

ANYWAY, the bus dropped me at the train station (right on time) where I picked up the Tranz Alpine railway from the West Coast of this island all the way over to Christchurch.  Lovely, lovely scenery.  I had been sold an aisle seat, but the nice conductor guy pointed out the carriage behind us was nearly empty, so I moved back there and got a window so I could enjoy the view.  Met a nice couple from Minnesota and chatted with them while enjoying the scenery and my cheap tea and scones.  Very pleasant afternoon.

Arrived at the train station.  My itinerary said I'd be met at the station and transferred to my hotel.  Given my record on this, I didn't believe it for a second.  To my surprise, there were three guys there holding up signs with the names of train passengers on them.  To nobody's surprise, my name was not among them.

I shared a car into town with a nice lady backpacking her way through NZ.  Couldn't place the accent -- something European.  I couldn't always make out the words she was saying, but she said she'd found herself in Wellington for "the premiere" and then mocked the crowds yelling "Orlando."  I cracked up.

NZ TV!

I need to take back what I'd said about us exporting good stuff to the world.  Not only did I get part two of "Trista and Ryan's Wedding" last night, I also ended up watching that fine example of American filmmaking, "Josie and the Pussycats."  (Not Alan Cumming's best work, clearly.)

But after that ... oh, how my spirits lifted!  I saw an Australian program called "Strip Search" -- and was delighted to discover that the Aussies have come up with crap that meets ... and possibly even exceeds ... American standards.  I ended up watching what appeared to be the final episode, but it seems that what we have here is a variant of "Making the Band" -- except rather than watching normal average everyday people (with good voices) turn into a rock band, I was watching normal average everyday people (with good bodies) turn into a troupe of male strippers.  Yeppers.  "American Idol" crossed with "The Full Monty."  I can't believe American television hasn't made this one yet.  Paging Mark Burnett.

After the Walk

Peg has an interesting point.  She says:

>How strange: Maybe I should not say this but we were helicoptered right onto the icefall -- rain jackets, poles, talons and all.<

Mm-hmm.  Yes, that would be the "heli-hike option."  For which I was not signed up.  This is the difference between making your own damn plans and letting a travel agent do it.  *You* know what you want.  The agent has no freakin' clue.  Fact is, once the agent screwed up the initial reservation and I no longer ended up with the whole three-day package I'd been aiming for (including the half-day walk), I should have looked at all the options and selected the walk best suited for me, rather than just let her add in what she thought was best.

As it turned out, though, the heli-hike wasn't an option.  After the walk (and telling you all about it), I realized that I hadn't really WANTED to hike on a glacier -- what I'd wanted was to have a helicopter fly me up to the good bits, jump out for about ten minutes, go "hey, I'm on a glacier," take lots of pictures, and leave.  Even though I'd already done the walk, I had the afternoon to kill, so went over to one of the many helicopter places in Franz Josef and see if I could right that wrong and get me some "hey, I'm on a glacier" pictures.

I couldn't.  They had bad weather coming in and weren't flying.  In fact, they'd cancelled all their flights that day.  Turns out the only way to get on that glacier that day was the walk -- so, ultimately, I guess I'm glad I did it the way I did.

(Of course, then I went back to the hotel, ripped off my clothes, soaked in a nice hot bath, examined the scrapes and bruises forming on my knee, and cursed Kris a little more.)

 

The Half Day Glacier Walk (5 of ?)

ANYWAY, we still weren't at the turnaround point when I fell on my knee, but there didn't seem any other choice but to continue.  (On the plus side, I didn't have to look very far to ice it.)  What was really bothering me about this was it was my LEFT knee, and I now had to favor the damn thing on my way down, which made me even more unsteady than usual.  Add to this that the boots were starting to loosen up again, so my ankles kept twisting (which aggravated the ligament, of course), I started wondering exactly why I'd gone to so much trouble to walk on this f'ing glacier to begin with.

So, we reached the turnaround point and ... turned around.  Kris brought us back down through a path that was MUCH easier than how we'd climbed up, and other than having to sit on my tush once to reach a foothold, I made it down without further incident.  (I had various landmarks marked -- the wood plank on the ladder, the place where we take off our talonz, the bottom of the glacier -- and gave a little cheer when I hit each one.)  During the walk back to the bus (remember that large valley?) I sorta just picked a pace and went with it, not stopping at all.  Along the path, I chatted with some people, but when they stopped for photos I had to keep going, certain that if I'd stopped, I wouldn't be able to start again.

Finally got to the bus at the end and just stared at the step up into the bus.  Three guides behind me started cracking up, and one of them was like, "Left foot.  Pick it up.  You can do it."  ;)

Back at the shop, we unloaded our talonz, boots, and socks (wow!  only two blisters!  yay me!) and we met our guides for little certificates saying we climbed the thing.  Kris fills out my certificate and says something like, "Well done, mate, considering how much you were moaning there at the beginning" and I swear I nearly burst into tears.

Grabbed some lunch with the Nice Family From Melbourne.  Considering they saved me from falling down the glacier, I probably should have treated.