Day 2-5 in New Zealand

Day 2

Flight JQ171 landed in Christchurch around 5am. Security took the tent out from the bottom of my backpack and brought it into the lab to inspect for pests. When they had emptied the contents of my bag onto the counter, I discovered that Will the Botanist had slipped "Of Mice and Men" in while he was helping me pack! The first thing I did once I was out of immigration was grab a strong cappuccino and lodge my visa application online. I knew I would love New Zealand by the time I had taken my second step outside the airport. The skies were clear, the air was fresh, and from the distance I saw green hills. I took the bus to the Botanic Gardens and was stunned by its beauty. The flowers were all in full bloom and the landscape design was perfection.

Rose Garden

Punting on the Avon River

Christchurch and the surrounding areas had suffered severe damages from 2 big earthquakes magnitudes of 7.1 and 6.3 and was still affected by numerous aftershocks every day. The city was in the state of rebuilding itself and in the middle of the city stood a small mall made of shipping containers. Other artistic creations were popping up around the city amidst crumbled buildings. There was a magnitude 4.2 earthquake while I was walking around. I didn't feel a thing. 

Re:start Mall

Cathedral Square

My walk to Addington, a suburb just outside the city, was interrupted by construction, fences, and train tracks. At that time, Brett was working as a car sales consultant and upon seeing me walking back and forth with a giant backpack, came out to say hi. We arranged a meet up after he was done with work. Our first stop was to Sugar Loaf, a hill on which we could see the entire city and the surrounding landscape.

Dinner with Brett

After dinner, Brett dropped me off at my couchsurfing host's place. Easwaran was a pilot from India who lived on an airfield. He was hosting two other surfers, Allison from Canada and Javier from Spain. Easwaran was more commonly known as Iceman and we watched Top Gun because I had never seen it. Before the night ended, I checked my phone and there it was - my visa grant number! A 12-month working holiday visa for Australia!

I have decided that tomorrow I will hitch hike to Lake Tekapo.

Day 3
In the morning, Allison and Javier were ready to go flying with Iceman and tried to convince me to stay. But when I've got travelling on my mind, I can't get it out. Iceman's student, Steve, was heading towards the city and he and his partner Leslie were able to drop me off on the highway from where I would start hitch hiking.

Javier, Allison, Iceman, me

Leslie and Steve

 I awkwardly stood on the side of the road and put my thumb up. Within 5 minutes, a white truck pulls up.
"Where are you headed?"
"Ashburton."
I looked on my map and saw that it was on the way to Tekapo so I threw my stuff in the back and hopped in. Jay was my first hitched ride. By 2pm, I was in Ashburton.

Jay from the Philippines

Nita

 A quick stop at the supermarket and I was back on the highway. Nita, a New Zealander, was on her way to Mount Cook and offered to drop me off right at Lake Tekapo. I set up my Will the Botanist's tent quickly and spent the rest of the day in the warm waters.

It finally got dark at 10:30pm and I sat cross-legged outside my tent and looked up into the sky. I couldn't believe that I had made it. I can't even being to describe how infinite I felt at that moment.

Day 4
It got much colder during the night and by morning, the clouds had rolled in. I reluctantly got out of my sleeping bag and prepared for my hike up Mount John. At one point during the hike it felt like the wind was going to blow me off but I could not lose my photo-op. At Astro cafe at the top of the mountain, I took my cappuccino outside and braved the cold. This was taken moments before the froth of the coffee splattered all over my raincoat.

Cappuccino at the top of Mount John

View from Mount John

I slipped back inside the cafe and set up to read and write. Seeing "Of Mice and Men" on the table, Jason, an avid Steinbeck fan, walked over and invited me to drop by next door at the observatory where he was working. He and his colleague, Rob, gave me a free tour of the facility. By 4pm, it was decided that I would spend the night at Jason's and he would drop me off somewhere on the way to Christchurch where I would catch my flight the next day.

Jason's housemate Dave was an astro-photographer at the conservatory and when it got dark, we walked through the Land of Rohan to sneak me into the observatory tour where telescopes had been set up. Tekapo has one of the most spectacular night skies in the world because it has a large number of clear nights and the town is not polluted by artificial lights. The moon was so bright I could've read a book in the dark. It lit our paths and its brightness reflected off the surface of the lake. There was a not a single sound other than the rustling of the grasses and the leaves. We stood for minutes and breathed the moment in.

The moon and Jupiter

Looking through a really expensive telescope

Jupiter and its moons, as seen through the telescope

Dave and I went back to his place on foot but not before we lay on the grass and talked of time and space. Above us, the milky way streaked across the night sky.

Day 5

Saying goodbye to Tekapo was almost too hard. Andy and Shannon, two couchsurfers that Jason had picked up from the mountain were travelling to Christchurch as well. We made a quick stop at the Church of Good Shepherd before they dropped me off right at the Christchurch airport.

Me, Dave, Jason, Mary, Shannon

Altar at Church of Good Shepherd

With Shannon and Andy

If I had ever needed a sign that my life was on track, this trip was it. Every achievement and every fuck-up had to happen in order for me to be where I am now. I had planned to be in vet school in Saskatoon by now (but thank goodness I'm not). It's funny how things work out.

It was finally time to go back to Australia. This time, legally.