Finally… some time to write from New Zealand

Riding the gondola up to Lyttleton

We’ve been in Christchurch for 5 days! The city is definitely a college town, full of art galleries, trendy boutiques and hip young folk. We are fortunate enough to have arrived during the World Busker’s Festival, a 10-day-long  annual shindig which brings street performers from all over the world to share their acts in different venues staged around the city. We’ve seen fire dancers, acrobats, comedians, the world’s strongest woman, and an amazing beat-boxer named DubFX….

But let me backtrack for a moment; the day after our little kayaking excursion, Alan woke up with the worst sunburn of his life, and the worst sunburn I’ve ever seen! His entire back and the backs of his legs are a frightening shade of neon fuschia. He’s been downing copious amounts of advil and wine, and I’ve been hosing him down with aloe vera spray ever since. And yes, it’s been four days, so that tells you how bad it is.

Our last night in Fiji was a blast. We bought a large amount of Kava to see if we could actually get stoned off the stuff and I believe we achieved our goal. We didn’t drink any alcohol. Our good friend bartender Cookie hooked us up by mixing it and saying a blessing, and the drinking began. We each probably consumed about 15 cups. At a certain point we decided that yes, we were both feeling incredibly euphoric and relaxed, and that we could stop. The next morning was not fun though. While it wasn’t quite like a hangover, my stomach was a bit tore up the next day…

Other doings in Christchurch: we took a gondola ride to the top of the hills over town and got some great views. We also got a tour of the Botanical Gardens, which were full of local fauna. Last night we went to a comedy show at the Christchurch Casino that was part of the buskers festival and laughed our asses off.

There are many cute coffeeshops, the people are extremely friendly and laid-back, there is a lovely little river that meanders through the town, and it’s banks have been propagated with green lawns and park benches, making for a perfect spot to relax with some wine and a picnic lunch. The weather isn’t great. It’s a lot like Portland in October, perhaps with less rain…

Tags: Christchurch, Festival, New Zealand, Sunburn