One helluva ride

T'was summer: working inside a store without an a/c running at the front made me all sticky and irritated at the end of the day. Toss in 30 rude, 10 drunk and 20 plain dumbass customers per shift, you get an incredibly moody Zara.

Summer was looking wayyy tooo long to my liking.

Fortunately, our trip to Christchurch was lurking nearer and nearer as each day passed by and surprise surprise, before I knew it, it was already the 21st of February!

So I bid farewell (at least temporarily) to donuts and smoothies (yuk) and set off on a (truly) unforgettable journey down south.

First stop: Christchurch. Much to my wallet's delight Kak Zaidah and I bumped into Lynda and co. at the airport and they gave us a ride to the city centre. The city itself is small but delightfully charming, with sidewalk cafes and specialty boutiques housed in old buildings. And c'mon, they've got trams and punts! How cute is that?

After settling down at the New Exelsior Backpackers we headed out for Cathedral Square then jumped on a tram to the Botanical Garden. The garden is huge and round and round we went searching for the rose garden and perhaps more importantly (to moi), the rock garden. We never did find the latter but the rose garden was certainly pretty enough to make up for it. My mom would have loved it.

We then raced to the Christchurch Gondola about 20 minutes away from the city. Oh dear me, I wouldn't have paid for the tickets if I knew it was going to be quite a high ride up! I just about managed to stay calm (bet I was deathly pale) throughout the ride. Unfortunately for us it was already late: the restaurant was closed (much to my stomach's dismay)and any photo-op I'd dreamt of couldn't be realized. It was too dark and I didn't have the right camera for the job.

But yes, simply fab view.

Kaikoura, here I come! Oh the excitement at just the thought of seeing whales! The day didn't start out as planned, sadly. We were going to pick up the rental car so we got on a bus but unfortunately we missed the stop for Sir William (something) Drive, so we had to pull our luggages along Memorial Ave, walking towards the airport, and mind you, I hadn't had my coffee yet. The horror! "Steve" finally picked us up, brought us to the rental company, and off we drove to Kaikoura (well I didn't drive). Yipeee! I was going to see whales :)

Let's cut the story short-I got seasick. Not even minor seasickness. A major one. 10 minutes into the boat ride I was already feeling like shit. Pening, nak muntah, and my body was burning up. I closed my eyes and if I could stuff my ears I would. Everything around me was making me feel nauseous-everything I saw, every sound, every movement...OMG...Nothing worked (Not the balm not the kulit limau not the taking off of my sweater) and before I knew it, I was grabbing the barf bags in front of me.

Then I thought, "Hey I've thrown up, surely I'll feel better rite?"

No. Not right at ALL.

They then spotted a whale. I gathered all my strengths and left my seat. Fresh air felt sooooo gooooddddd. And there it was- we could only see the spout first. Then as the whale dived in, we could finally see its tail. Photo-op! So that's that and it's back inside to chase after another whale.

Shame they didn't allow us to stay on the deck while in transit: I think I would have felt way better, but nevermind that. At this stage thoughts of swimming back to shore kept playing in my mind. I didn't bother leaving my seat after that; rushing in and out everytime they THINK they've spotted one made me feel even worse than before.

So throughout the ride, I stayed in and tried as hard as I could to sleep (but I couldn't). As soon as we landed, I wanted to kiss the very ground I stood on.

Barf bags count: 4.

So that's that. I'd have to say though, Kaikoura is unbelievably beautiful. Oh and I got to see seals! Up close and personal in their natural habitat :)

Then it was back to Christchurch- met up with Kasyah and Ida for dinner and I got to meet HRH Maddox and Shiloh. Yey!

Sunday we headed out to Lyttelton and Akaroa. The drive to Akaroa was simply amazing. Past the long winding road (which left me feeling yes, sick again), are some of the most incredible sights you just can't afford to miss. Just vast empty lands dotted with a couple of (hundreds of) sheeps...Roll down the windows and go "ahhhh"...

Man, I wanna live there in the middle of nowhere...Sigh.

Sadly, the damage's been done. The fact that I was so sick on the boat and that I didn't take enough time to rest (also, winding road to every destination, I kid you not) made me feel nauseous almost all of the time. I finally felt better on Monday, but hey, guess what? That's our last day in South Island. 'Tis very sad indeed.

Next trip?

The West Coast! Choo-choo!!!!

G'nite folks :)