56N to 43S

February 1, 2010

Another week has passed here in Christchurch. The weather has generally been sunny and windy, with a few showers. We continue to try to get our NZ lives in order. In the last week, though, we have overcome two of our major hurdles.

First, we have rented a house. It’s on Ilam Road, very near the University. It’s on a relatively major road, and the rent is more than we’d like to be paying, but it’s a really nice house with a nice yard. It has three bedrooms and a living room (actually, I think it is supposed to be two bedrooms, a lounge, and a dining room with a sun area), with hardwood floors, in-floor heat (which I’m hoping is reasonably efficient), and LOTS of windows – a big change from our basement suite in East Vancouver which only got direct natural light through one window for a very brief period each day. Our new house has fruit trees in the yard (one lemon, one peach). I’ll post pictures when we get moved in (which is happening later this week). We would throw a house-warming party, but we don’t actually know anyone here…

Second, we have purchased a car, a 1996 Subaru Legacy with fairly low mileage. Again, we paid more than we’d like, but after looking a several cars, this one seemed fairly decent, well cared for, and was a not-outrageous price. We bought it on Trade Me (a NZ website which is like Ebay mashed together with Craigslist). It seems as though virtually all used cars here (especially older ones) get sold on Trade Me. Trade Me functions like an online auction, so it was a little intense buying a car… Whew! I really prefer Craigslist, but it hasn’t caught on here for some reason. With a car, we will finally be able to see more of NZ than the University area and downtown! We will finally be able to see the ocean! Woo-hoo! And FINALLY make it to Castle Hill! At last!

We walked downtown again on the weekend. To get there, we walk across Hagley Park, a massive park in the middle of the city. It’s very pretty, very idyllic, and very British. Huge lawns, lots of trees (ALL kinds, from English oaks to Sequioa), a little lake with ducks, a winding river with punts (yes, each punt is poled along by a man with a round straw hat, a vest and a bow tie). It’s like Wind in the Willows – it makes me very jealous of Ratty, indeed (I wish I had a little rowboat and a picnic basket with cold chicken and cordial). There are lots of ducks in the river, but we also saw BIG eels (arm-sized) and big trout of some kind (probably a Brown trout). The cicadas are also out everywhere, buzzing their staccato music up in the trees. They’ve left their nymphal exoskeletons (exuviae) all over the bases of the trees, and with a bit of patience, you can see the adults higher on the trunks.

Downtown Chch is like Mini-Europe. A big central square, a big cathedral, art galleries, outdoor cafes. The difference, of course, is that it’s thronging with New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, with a few Americans, Europeans, and Asians thrown in for good measure. New Zealanders generally dress like Canadians, except they wear flipflops on their feet (or, in many cases, are barefooted).

We wandered though the Arts Centre again - it’s a fascinating place. It was the original University of Canterbury campus, complete with hidden courtyards, mysterious passageways, stone staircases, turrets, and oak trees. Now, tucked into every nook and cranny are galleries, workshops, theatres, and cafes. We went to some of the galleries and craftstores, including one that sold knitting (wool is taken fairly seriously here, and it shows).

The Buskers / Street Performers Festival is on right now, so we watched one of the shows. It was fun, but soon we were off again, exploring the city… The last time we were downtown we went to the Cathedral – very impressive! Photogenic! You can see it when you come visit!

We were walking through the campus tonight, and were poking around in one of the two streams that run through campus. Aya was leaning over, looking at something in the water… and plop! She fell in! She was shocked, maybe even a little scared. I pulled her out of the thankfully shallow water, and Shelley stripped her out of her wet clothes. I wrapped her in my jacket, and we headed home much to her chagrin (she wanted to stay a play in the stream).

This week’s ChCh vs. Vancouver comparisons… ChCh has a wayyy better downtown. Vancouver has wayyy better sushi. ChCh less rain. Vancouver less UV. ChCh NO CHEAP BREAKFASTS (this one is a killer). Beautiful women abound in both cities, but ChCh has wayyy more redheads. ChCh has fun streams IN the city (complete with EELS!!! Yay!). ChCh has free plums. Vancouver has free blackberries. People are MUCH friendlier here in ChCh.

Three final comments; (1) I’d like to Thank Amanda and Hamish for all their insight into life in Chch, (2) what exactly does “Sweet As!” mean?, and (3) I sunburned my nose (in NZ they turn the UV dial to ‘12’). I am getting TANNED here…

More soon! This week’s “We Miss You” goes out to our East Van neighbors Drew and Zoe and Violet, and Anna and Ben. We always really appreciated our fun neighbors on our tree-lined street in East Van!

Trent.