Christchurch, NZ

We had to get to Nadi airport in the middle of the night, so a taxi was our only option. We had booked and confirmed a taxi for 4am but 4am came along and no taxi. We had no other way of getting to the airport except for hitch-hiking, which we certainly didn´t fancy at that time of night. Eventually, after walking around the large vicinity of the Beach House for some time, searching for any signs of life, I accidentally came across the security guard, pissed and passed out on a sofa, with his flies open (I spotted him with the help of his own torch, which I had found elsewhere!)

It was impossible to convey the urgency of the situation to him, so instead, I decided to go at his delicate pace, rather than confusing him. I managed to get him to take me to where some of the other staff slept, about half a mile away and we obtained a key for the administrative office and a phone number. Just as we´d put the phone down after being told that the taxi driver´s car had broken down, we heard the sound of wheels on gravel, an hour late. But we still made it to our flight on time!

We flew to Auckland and then about four hours later caught a flight to Christchurch. New Zealand has the most ridiculously rigorous cutoms and immigration checks I have ever experienced. We arrived in Christchurch in the early evening and decided to treat ourselves by eating out. We left our hostel initially to buy some cheap food to cook for dinner and breakfast but ended up going to a delightful Italian restaurant, Valentino´s! And thank fuck we did - it was the most divine Italian food I have EVER tasted. OH. MY. GOD. An orgasm on a plate (or several, in fact). We started with some Bruschetta bread with four different kinds of pesto (mint, sun-dried tomato, basil and pumpkin). And then I had a beautifully perfect pesto spaghetti dish - a bit of an overload on the pesto front, but delicious nonetheless. So good (not for the budget) and well worth it!

Christchurch has an antiquated feel. It is meant to be the most English of the Kiwi towns and I can see why. I don´t know whether it was just our tourist leisure time that gave me this impression but it seems very quiet and slow paced as a city. The following day we went to the cathedral but decided not to go in as we were made to feel uncomfortable by a bishop, or some kind of preist-like person, who indignantly told us not to take photos while a service was taking place but the only sign visible said that photography was allowed. So we moved on and went to The Arts Centre and saw a free art exhibition by a New Zealand artist.

I had leftovers from yesterday´s Italian meal for dinner - still mmmmmm! Then we went to a really nice, old-fashioned cinema and watched a NZ film, partly set in Christchurch, called ´We´re here to help´, based on a real story of a man´s battle with the inland revenue. A missable, not particularly well acted film. We ate far too much chocolate.