In all my travels around New Zealand I have been assured by locals and travellers alike that Christchurch is the one place in the country which most resembles a 'European city'. If I'd known that the 'European city' in question was Middlesbrough then I might perhaps have been in less of a hurry to get here. This place is a shit tip. Even without the grey skies and drizzle, it really does resemble one of the less nice cities of northern England, except with an unwelcome added seedy side - brothels are legal, and ubiquitous, over here.
On Monday I left Dunedin and drove north to the Rock and Pillar range of hills, and had a brief hike which I had to cut short as the snow got a bit too deep further up the hill. The weather was OK enough but I just couldn't see the track beneath the snow. The photo was taken from halfway up, while I was still nervously trudging past herds of cattle which all stopped chewing as I approached, and stared at me in motionless and rather intimidating silence as I passed. (By the way, yes, my camera is working again.) I drove on for a while and spent the night in Twizel, not far from Mt Cook (tallest mountain in NZ at 12,349 feet). Yesterday the weather was a bit naff so I thought I might as well just hit the road and drive all the way to Christchurch, which, as mentioned above, I'm beginning to regret slightly. At least my hostel is decent enough. But the next blog update will bring news of a fairly substantial change of scenery.
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| View over Highway 87 from the Rock and Pillar Range |
