Christchurch in Icelandic

Hey ho,

On my tour I thought to myself again: Man, I haven't been to Christchurch for a long time. So it's time to go back "home". This city doesn't feel like "home" but it definitely feels like my base. That's mainly because of the super friendly people there and Sophia and Anna were still there to work at the campsite.

On my current TO-DO list for Christchurch at this time was: sort out the Liseschrotte insurance money, get 2 new tires put on, get the headlight bulb replaced, cancel Liseschrotte insurance and also a job interview in Hobbiton came up during the week I was there. All tasks that (apart from the interview) can only be completed in a few days. For this reason, and possibly also because Sophia has a Netflix subscription, I was in Christchurch for a whole week.

Most of my to-do's were done and I used the time to tick off another item on my life list and galloped along the beach. And not just on any horse, but on an Icelandic horse.

When I was in Christchurch for the first time, I saw a flyer in the campsite office and since then I couldn't stop thinking about horse riding in New Zealand (specifically on the beach). And throughout my entire tour of the South Island, I kept looking for opportunities to ride and sit on the back of a fluffy horse. But somehow that never happened and I think I had already decided in my head that I wanted to do this Icelandic tour in Christchurch.

And so I tackled it and booked a 2.5 hour tour through bush, forest and beach with the German owner. The area is a little outside of Christchurch and it really was an unbelievably great ride. The sun was shining and the Isis were just typical ponies. Stubborn and cute. A little like me. ;)

The tour lasted about 45 minutes through the bush and forest until we reached the beach. On this stretch we trotted several times and even galloped once. It was a pleasure! But it was nothing compared to the feeling I was able to experience on the beach afterwards!

When I was young, I always dreamed of galloping across the beach on horseback, and I always imagined the moment especially when I was a teenager. And it really was a dream to gallop through the sand on the back of such a fluffy creature. Even though the feeling was full of adrenaline, because I lost my stirrup in the middle of a gallop and had to concentrate very hard on my seat to find it again.

It was definitely a key memory that I can take home with me from this wonderful country. On the way back I had a little chat with Inga (the owner) and told her that I had an interview for Hobbiton and she actually told me that the horse I was sitting on had also been booked for the film adaptation of "The Hobbit". Simply unbelievable! I'm really becoming a real hobbit here. My hairstyle is definitely getting closer and closer to that!

It's almost unbelievable that I, the little idiot I am, really have no memory for names and have actually forgotten what my new friend was called. I definitely know that he was a gelding, but there's no way I can remember his name.

What a great experience! Maybe I'll look into the idea of working and traveling in Iceland again. So if anyone knows someone, you can put out feelers.

Otherwise, I enjoyed my days in Christchurch and binge-watched Sophia's Netflix account. The Last Airbender and Brigerton were my main tasks here. The whole issue with Liseschrotte has also been resolved and after a second evaluation of the car, the insurance company offered me a sum of 10,000 NZD and I am more than happy with that and I am honestly very grateful that it all turned out this way. I know that I can do anything as long as I deal with the problems and that I can rely on myself. I also have Fridolin-Christopher now, who is much, much cooler than Liseschrotte anyway.

During my stay, Sophia, Anna and Josef and I decided that we wanted to do a guided kayak tour in Kaikoura and I will tell you more about that in the next post.

Your Britta