NZ Train Journey, Day Three: On to Christchurch

A beginning note: There are no new pictures (or video) for this entry. I have already posted what I have from this time (train stuff). Other than that, the day was lousy and rainy, and that doesn't put me in a picture-taking mood. Get over it. In better news, I think this entry is pretty damn literary. Enjoy.

Very proud of myself for staying in and getting up early, I packed my things, had a quick breakfast at the hostel cantina, then walked across the street to the train station to catch the early shuttle to the ferry terminal. I was taking one of the InterIslander ferries, included on my two-week rail pass. These ferries are HUGE and make the crossing of the Cook Strait about a dozen times a day, carrying all manner of other vehicles across with them. It felt very much like being on a cruise ship, except without a cabin. However, there were plenty of lounges, a bar, and a food court. There were also three different outside viewing areas, but the weather was pretty miserable, so I only went outside as we entered the Marlborough Sounds (see previous pics and video) and then docked in Picton.

I lied - one pic, so you can see how shitty and rainy it was.

I only stayed in Picton long enough to have lunch, walk the downtown, and do some quick intertubing at the local library (these things are always centrally located and easy to find - lovely). I had not booked anywhere to stay in Christchurch (from here on out - Chch) because I had an offer of a place to stay from a fellow American that I met at the Verandah backpacker lodge in Auckland. She is an architect, guest-professoring at the University of Auckland while living in Chch and commuting by plane between the two every week. In Chch she lives with a little old lady with extra rooms for rent. Anyway, was planning on staying there, but as of Picton still didn't have any messages letting me in on where this little old lady had an address. Though I could have booked something from Picton, I decided to risk it and hop on the train without making other arrangements.

Though I slept through a bit of it, the train journey from Picton was gorgeous - lush wooded hills wrapped in mist, valleys full of vineyards, and long stretches where the track was hard against the Pacific, squeezed up next to the huge Kaikoura mountains, plunging right into the sea (again, see previous pics and video). Just after the mountains, we made a stop in a little beach town and excursion point called Kaikoura, after the mountains. It sits at the neck of a little headland and is famous as a spot to see marine mammals - seals, whales, dolphins, etc. I decided that I'd definitely have to stop here for a night or two on the way back. After Kaikoura were more tunnels and mountains, hills, valleys, and sheep farms, until finally things flattened out into the Canterbury Plains - the largest expanse of flat land in New Zealand. Here we passed over several braided river beds. These plains were built from sediment washed by these braided rivers out of New Zealand's Southern Alps (much like the South's Piedmont coastal plain was long ago washed out of the Appalachians). Of course all the rivers have interesting Maori names. I'm kicking myself because I cannot find it now, but one river's name I swear translates to "Place Where the Dead Bodies are Piled High, for Eating." Yes, that was quite something to hear on the train's recorded audio commentary - and yes, that comma is there because the narrator quite obviously paused before finishing the translation.

Arriving in Christchurch was very different from arriving in Wellington. Wellington's station is part of a large regional network of commuter trains and lets you off right in the center of things. Chch's station is small and well outside the city center. It is also tucked back behind a suburban shopping center of strip malls and big box stores (friends and family will know how pleased this detail will make me). Still, I figured that I could walk to the CBD, find some internet access, and figure out if I was staying with architect and granny, or if I'd need to book a hostel. My understanding of Chch was off, to say the least. Way off.  First, the walk from the station to the CBD was MUCH longer than I'd estimated. My map was quite misleading because the main city park is HUGE and blocks in Chch are large as well - so my judging of distances from the map was skewed (what's that? look at the scale?). Finally I got to the inside edge of the park, adjacent to where the CBD should be, but I wasn't seeing any open cafes or anywhere else that I might find internet access. A city bus was sitting at a stop with the door open, so I decided to seek some info from the driver.

Poking my head in the open door of the empty bus, I ventured, "Excuse me?"

The bus driver replied, "You're excused."

Really, Christchurch? That's how it's gonna be?

Actually, I think the bus driver felt bad for that juvenile retort, because after that she was quite helpful, directing me towards the nearby YMCA, where I could use the internet and maybe book lodging if necessary. Finally I got out of the drizzle (did I not mention it was raining this whole time?) and was able to check my email. Still no instructions to grandma's house. Sigh. I decided I'd just stay at the YMCA. Nope. Booked up. So were the next five places that I called. This is a good spot to mention that this day was the one-year anniversary of the second earthquake to rock Christchurch - the one that did the real damage. Apparently it knocked out a lot of hotels and hostels as well, and oh yeah, then there's all the people in town on rebuild work. A little supply and demand problem. Finally, I did find a spot at a hostel, but not in a private room. I didn't care. I took it. Another good trudge and I was at "At the Right Place" hotel and hostel - I kid you not. And it was a pretty good place, I must say.

Basically I got a spot in a shed of sorts - not part of the hotel and not attached to the main hostel either, though hostel-style in that it had 5 beds in it (two bunks and a single). That ended up being good, as its separation meant that noise from the common room in the main hostel did not reach. After settling my things I went to that common room to see what was up. There was a motley crew there, as usual in a hostel - people of various nationalities and ages, most younger but not all. This is what I like about hostels - the meeting of new people, sharing of stories, and figuring out what activities we can enjoy together and pass the time with (number one thing I don't like - figuring out who might have enough criminal intent to steal my stuff). I sat at a table and made friends with fellow Dutch, Belgian, Irish, and American travellers in the span of about 15 minutes. We played a little cards, after figuring out what was missing and re-labelling the jokers, but then decided that our time might be better spent finding beer THEN playing cards. It was raining a bit more now, but the Irish and American lads convinced me to go out on safari (which would need no convincing a few years ago).

I'm going to truncate this tale and just say that we bonded by walking for 40 minutes to a grocery store (after various misadventures finding out where this store might be), bought some booze, walked outside to find it pouring rain, and decided that a cab was worth it for the trip back. Then we played cards, drank said booze, and told stories. More later...

NZ Train Journey, Day Two: Wellington

So, as one might expect, I woke up a bit later than I had intended, after my night out with brand-new friends. My original plan had been to go on a walking tour of the CBD that leaves from the visitor information storefront downtown every morning. Didn't make that. So after a late breakfast and a little intertubing, I walked up The Terrance to Cable Car Lane where, guess what, there was the downhill cable car station. I already posted a video of the ride up previously, but below is a video of the panoramic view at the uphill station at the Wellington Botanic Gardens. 

(Note: all locations can be found on the map in the previous Wellington entry)

The Botanic Gardens were awesome. If I lived in Wellington, I'd come up to this free amenity for a walk at least once a week. Maybe a walk and a nap. Watch the video below with the sound turned up to hear what the local insects sound like - they are quite a noisy bunch, but in a good way.

There were pieces of sculpture here and there along the path. Several were interactive, including one that you were intended to step inside of (pic above, Druid Hill). The video below was taken from within it. This is my foray into artsy-fartsy video-blogging...

Once done with walking through the gardens, I walked through the Cable Car Museum. It's amazing how many cities in New Zealand had cable cars and trollies - and this was back when these cities were even tinier than they are now. Yes, I bought the DVD. Next I walked back to town the long way, through Victoria University. Actually, it wasn't that long of a walk, because there are pedestrian cut-throughs going straight down the hill, passing in-between private parcels of land, eliminating the need to follow the car-path. A pedestrian cut-through system like this is something that I and other grad students constantly wished we could establish in American neighborhoods - and look, here it is.

View down the cut-through

Motorway tunnel

National War Memorial

Walked through town, seeing a few sights, and down to the waterfront where the Te Papa museum is located. This is the national cultural museum, and one could spend days there seeing all the exhibits. I drifted through several, but my favorite was the one on the Giant Squid that a long-liner brought up. The actual carcass was right there, in a glass coffin full of brine. Finally I made my way to the hostel and headed to happy hour at the hostel bar. Tony and Isak met me there and we had a few while meeting other residents and playing with the giant Jenga set. Having to hop on the ferry early in morning, I made an early exit, which was regretful, as the happy hour group had decided to head to Cuba Street to hear some live music and continue the drinking...

Irish Slingblade and the Giant Jenga

Why New Zealand?

A brief interlude from recounting my train journey to publish a post that I have been trying to complete for a few weeks. A piece in the new Atlantic (delivered to my Kindle Fire) helped me to finish it.

"Why New Zealand?" is obviously a question that I get quite often, from both sides of the Pacific, so I will see what I can do to answer it:

First, the utilitarian reason - Work. In the spring of 2010 I completed a Masters of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) and a Masters of Science in Architecture (MSArch - specializing in Urban Design) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I also received a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate as part of a dual-enrollment program with Georgia State University (I've had a Georgia real estate license since 1999). After graduation I decided to move back to Savannah, since I own a house there, and most of my good friends live there as well. I did some freelance consulting and real estate work, while at the same time looking for a full-time position in urban planning and/or design. Didn't find one. I gave myself a year, then decided that I'd move elsewhere, and if I was moving elsewhere, why not make a BIG move? I can't remember what exactly first attracted my attention to the prospect of working in New Zealand, but early on while I was studying at Tech I went online to the Immigration New Zealand website and saw that "Urban and Regional Planner" was on their Long Term Skills Shortage List (LTSSL). This means that NZ is trying to attract professionals in this sector, and this was even before the big quakes that damaged a huge portion of Christchurch (great recent article on the rebuild opportunities here).

Second - New Zealand itself. It has a great quality of life, obviously, especially if you enjoy the outdoors. But it's also about the intangibles. A review by Benjamin Schwarz of the book Fairness and Freedom by David Fischer that appears in the new issue of The Atlantic sums it up quite nicely. Click here to read the whole thing (second review), but here is an excerpt:

New Zealand—where during the Second World War the Austrian emigré Karl Popper wrote his enormously influential The Open Society and Its Enemies, an excoriation of historicist totalitarianism and a defense of liberal democracy—is a particularly successful polity and society. In some ways its achievements seem all the greater when compared with those of the United States. In 2010, its unemployment rate was nearly half of ours. Our economic inequality is the highest of any developed country’s; New Zealand’s hovers much lower on the list. New Zealand ranks first in Transparency International’s global survey of government honesty; the United States ranks 22nd—just ahead of Uruguay! And comparable divergences, Fischer shows, are found “in trends and measures of political partisanship, legislative stalemate, judicial dysfunction, infrastructure decay, home foreclosures, family distress, drug consumption, and social violence.” Fischer’s rich cultural analysis leaves little doubt that New Zealand’s achievements are largely rooted in its “highly developed vernacular ideas of fairness,” a complex set of values that Kiwis prize and pursue earnestly. The result: by virtually every measure, New Zealand has a more just and decent society than ours—while resorting far less readily to legalistic and legislative remedies.

Third - America. I'm a bit worried about its future. Please don't read anything in regards to this election cycle into that. I'm thinking much more long-term, and in regards to macro trends that politicians have little to no control over. That said, one of our two parties it seems would rather collectively stick its head in the sand and hope that we can return to the 50s, rather than adapt to changing conditions. THAT said, the other party, while acknowledging changes, certainly isn't leading the nation down a path that will secure a sustainable future. If you'd like a primer on the kind of things I'm talking about, check out this episode (#191) of The Kunstler Cast - "Get Used to Being Uncomfortable". In fact, I recommend ALL of these podcasts, and his books, especially The Long Emergency.

NZ Train Journey, Day One: Wellington

Ok, so I'm finally getting to recounting my two-week train journey across New Zealand. In hindsight, it was really a journey to Wellington and the South Island, because on Day One I took the Overlander train from Auckland to Wellington without hopping off anywhere (a 12-hour trip across the whole of the North Island) and then on Day Fourteen I took the same train back, again without stopping. I figure that I will have plenty of time and opportunity to see the North Island if I can manage to land a job in Auckland. If not, oh well. I'd describe the train journey, but I'm no good at flowery language (or I just have no patience for it), I've already posted videos, and anyone can go rent Lord of the Rings (yes, that is actually what it looks like), so do so.

So, Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. I'll recount both stops here, coming and going, because their contrast illustrate quite well some of the advantages and disadvantages of this city. Upon arriving at about 7:30pm to the downtown station (see pic in earlier post) I literally walked across the street (after grabbing some cheap beer at the grocery store inside the station - nice) to check into my hostel, the Downtown Backpackers lodge. I "splurged" on a single room, rather than have to share a dorm with others. I still had more than an hour of daylight to kill, so I decided to have a walk through the CBD to get a lay of the land and try to find some nightlife spots to visit later. Central Wellington is quite compact and built-up, so despite the fact that it is a fraction the population of Auckland, it feels of similar size (if not larger) if you contain yourself to the CBD and surrounding neighborhoods, without taking in the sprawling suburbs. So an hour and a half was plenty of time to stroll downtown and come back.


View Wellington in a larger map

Back at the hostel I polished of my beer (I only bought two) and then hit the bar within the hostel for happy hour and free pool. I hopped on a table with a European couple (French male, Brit female) and taught them how to play Cutthroat. I then cut their throats 3 of 4 games before the French guy decided to quit. After that I decided to hit the town again. I started at Cuba Street, Wellington's funky nightlife and commercial strip. Savannah people would like it. I first dropped in a spot called Matterhorn, which many consider the best bar in New Zealand, and ranks as one of the best bars in the world. However, being Monday, it was a bit dead so I headed across the way to an Irish place. It had a few people in it, including three from the crew of the Bob Barker, which was in port. I joined them for a drink, telling them how my sister was invited to crew on the Steve Irwin, but they didn't believe me. You see, these ships are so special that they get tons of unsolicited resumes and applications, and it is unheard of that someone would be invited to join, and then refuse. If you know Audrey, or have seen her recent AK-47 videos, you'll know why she would never have fit in... uppity jerks. So next I went to Courtenay Place - a crescent shaped street spanning a few blocks, wall-to-wall entertainment/nightlife/restaurants. Still, Monday night, so pretty dead, but I did find another Irish place with a few people in it. One of these people was an Irish fellow named Tony (NZ is infested with them), a structural engineer working in Christchurch, and coincidentally staying at the same hostel. So we buddied up and hit the next bar together, which was a place called the Malthouse, my favorite so far - great selection and a very knowledgeable staff - the bartender introduced me to a wonderful dry cider that I'd never tried before (and now I can't remember what it was). Another American at the bar, Isak, joined in our conversation about bizarre parasites and mind control (see Atlantic article here). The three of us closed down Malthouse, so Isak took us to a late-nite spot near his apartment called the Fringe Bar. We only stayed indoors long enough to order beers, then hit the tables on the street outside to continue discussing interesting things. By that time it was quite late, so Tony and I decided to return to the hostel by cab, but Isak agreed to meet us the next night at the hostel bar for happy hour (he'd stayed there as well when he first moved to town).

Seeing as this post has gone on longer then I intended, I'm cutting this one off here. In the next post I will recount Day Two's activities, which involve considerably less alcohol, and considerably more pictures and video.

Why I Travel by Train, Moving Edition (Part 2)

Those last two are through the glass from my passenger car. The viewing platform was just too crowded as we traversed the viaducts over the Rangitikei River (yes, the one they are canoeing in Fellowship of the Ring). I was tempted to hurl someone over, so exited.

Why I Travel by Train, Moving Edition (Part 1)