christchurchy

So I decided just to do it and now I have a bloggo. ..

My third day into NZ and I'm in Christchurch staying at the Base Hostel. Pretty much run of the mill hostel action full of road ragged back packers. For one night, its totally perfect but beyond that i think it might get a slight bit claustrophobic for the older traveler in me. Gone are the days of sleeping in train stations and living by the seat of my naive youthful ideals.
Christchurch reminds of Switzerland, Zurich specifically. Its clean and open, relatively small and easy to navigate. I walk and walk today, dip into a costume/cloth show of a woman who has made costume after costume hell bent on turning humans into flowers, fruits and vegetables. I wish to God I had been able to take photos of the sometimes amazing, sometimes embarrassing adornments the mannequins were dolled up in. Whimsical almost to nausea (Wizard of Oz munchkin stylings), there were some that held up to high fashion spectacle and i fantasized about getting hitched in one these get ups. here's the link to the artists runway show...Jenny Gillies--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V61pFbcw8Xk.
Where i am staying, near Cathedral park, is the tourist mecca so you can imagine its full of all the Kiwi bling and NZ authenticity is can peddle and i can't wait to get out of its urban shadow.I have to admit, I am slightly terrified of commencing my driving portion of the trip tomorrow. My host at the beginning of the trip, Roger, fully inundated me with the fear of native kiwi drivers who he says are insane and then of course other tourists like me who often drift back onto the right (meaning wrong) side of the road. My sister in law talked big about the danger and confusion of the "turnabout" of which there are many. My taxi driver, Barry,also laid down the perils noting the frequency of accidents. I of course wonder if I was a dude if i would be bringing in such caution--even if i was a blonde dude. Regardless, I will now be traveling at the overly cautious speed of 20 mph (or 35 klm per hour as it here), and will arrive in Curio Bay in 2 weeks. (Sarah and Rushie, this is for you because i know you think I need 20 warnings to the usual one).

thats all for now..