G'Day Mates

G'Day Mates!

I have been in New Zealand for a few days now. The journey over here was a bit overwhelming but I survived. My flight left Chicago on Monday at 8:30 and took me to San Francisco where I had a 5 hour layover. By the time I got to San Francisco I had already read a 400 page book. From San Francisco I flew to LA where I had a 2 hour layover before I boarded the gigantic Qantas plane. This plane had 75+ rows of 10 seats per row. It also had an upper deck as well. I was stuck flat in the middle of a 4 person row of course. The best thing about it was the free meals, in flight movies and of course, free wine and sparkling!!! The 12 hour flight went pretty fast--I watched 3 movies and managed to get a little bit of sleep. I arrived in Aukland, New Zealand on Wednesday around 9 AM. Only one more flight to go! I re-checked my bags and went through customs. They welcomed me with open arms. I finally arrived in Christchurch around 10:30 AM. I gathered my belongings and got on a bus to find my accommodations at Charlie B's Backpackers.

After I checked into my nice dorm-style accommodations, I walked around Christchurch. It was very warm out and I was still dressed for winter in the Midwest. I was sweaty and hungry so I stopped at a local pub for some lunch. I had a beer and salad for $30.50 NZ dollars. Things are a bit more expensive here. I went back to my hostel and around 5:30 PM read my book and went to sleep. Don't forget that I had been up for almost 35 hours now without a good nights sleep. I woke up at 5 AM to catch the TranzCoastal train to Blenheim. It was a beautiful train ride down the East Coast of New Zealand. It reminds me a lot of Northern California with the cliffs and beaches.

Someone from Delegat's Oyster Bay was waiting at the train station to bring me to my final destination in Renwick. I live with 9 people. It is a bit like the Real World or my last Nashville trip--inside joke for some of you! There are 7 guys and 2 girls. There are 3 Germans, 1 Austrian, 2 Canadians, 2 South Africans and me the lonely American. Overall, a great group of people. More people will be arriving over the next few weeks. I think there are 3 more houses of people.

Renwick is a very small town. It is even smaller than Stoddard, WI! It has a supermarket, 3 bar/restaurants, a post office, museum and a hotel. Not too much to do here. Blenheim, population of 27,000, is 10K or 6.2 miles away. Yesterday, the 2 German guys and I walked from Renwick to Blenheim. I am a bit sunburned and my feet hurt! I walked 8 miles in flip flops to get to town and then we walked back--this time I was wearing my new running shoes. There is no transportation between the two towns except feet, bike or a taxi. I plan on buying a used bike soon.

Well, I will write more later.

My address here:
31 Alma Street
Renwick, New Zealand 7352

For now,

Becky