Akaroa and beyond!

We left our family in Arthur's pass to go to the "French" town of Akaroa. Everything is "French" there - except the people. The people are Kiwis. We had a gorgeous, civilised meal at the Braserie Kitchen, a nice change from our usual fare. The rest of the day was spent on the beach, taking walks and chatting with Fionnahula, a friend I'd made in Karewau months before. Fi was nice enough to lend us her van to sleep in that night before we headed to Christchurch - our last day of hitchhiking. Marion was to catch her flight to Australia and I was to find a place to stay and, eventually a job in the earthquake-defaced city. At around 4 pm, I began to realise that the first task might be hopeless, with all hostels fully booked for the Cricket World Cup! In a desperate attempt to escape a night in the rain, I consulted the google machine - "free places to stay in christchurch" and guess what? A phone number came up accompanying a very friendly message from a man named Martin. I tried the phone number, and within 20 minutes we were on the way to Martin's via the airport for Marion.

Glimpses of Akaroa

Martin was a generous, gracious, unassuming host. I stayed with him for a week, all in all and began the hunt for employment in Christchurch's rebuild. The various agencies that I signed up to were not particularly helpful. In fact, work came via my Aunt Kristi 12 500 km away in Fairbanks, Alaska. Having discovered I was in Christchurch, Kristi sent an email to Murray - the leader of a church close by - and in less than 24 hours I had a casual job! I also met up with Chris and Ginger from Wales in my time there.

Work and friends in Christchurch

I worked for about a week and a half and then started on my merry way back to Auckland, which involved hitchhiking up to Picton, sleeping on beaches and a 9 hour almost non-stop night drive from Wellington to Auckland with Matej (one of the Gypsy Family). We arrived at 3 am to a new flat and comfy beds. Back to school for the last semester in Auckland and the end of adventures for a while.

A view from a place I slept (Picton)... and back to Auckland