First days in Christchurch

For the first days in Christchurch, as I mentioned in my last post, we booked 5 nights at the YHA Backpackers Hostel in Christchurch. We were both very happy to have a real bed and a few days of rest to arrive in New Zealand. There were also some organizational things to do like opening a bank account, applying for a tax number (which will be required for work), or looking for campervans. We wanted to use these first few nights for that. But of course, we also wanted to visit the city of Christchurch, as we both didn't know this city yet. We were definitely looking forward to it.

We took the first morning to sleep in. So it took a long time until we made our way into the city and got things done. With great weather, sunshine, and warmth, we had breakfast in the city around 1 pm and simply enjoyed the atmosphere and the weather. After exploring the city a bit, we went back to the hostel to find out where we could open our bank account and get the tax number. Finally, we decided on the KiwiBank, comparable to the German Postbank, as you can find the KiwiBank in every post office and we thought a good network of ATMs was important to us. The practical thing about the KiwiBank: you also get the tax number in the mail in New Zealand. After a few phone calls, we found a branch just outside of Christchurch where we could open the account and apply for the tax number on the same day. We were both very happy with this start. So some organizational things were already done on the first day.

The search for a campervan in Christchurch turned out to be difficult again. We didn't achieve much with all the contacts, so we decided to take a road trip to Queenstown on Thursday. We hoped to achieve more there, as we had a promising contact.

We spent the remaining time in Christchurch sightseeing, which we both enjoyed very much because the weather remained sunny and warm.

How our road trip to Queenstown was and whether we achieved anything there will be in the next post :)

But first, here are the best impressions from Christchurch:

Until then

Yours Luca