My first week in Christchurch

I spent a lovely last evening in Auckland with Alix, Liam and Marc. We played cards late into the night, so at some point the bartenders joined in and played along. I also met Draegon, my former roommate, again by chance during my first week in Auckland. Around two o'clock we slowly made our way to bed and Draegon texted me in a panic about how one of his roommates was sleeping completely naked without closing the curtain🤢🥲 I can't wait to leave hostel life behind me!

The next morning I packed the last things and went to the lobby to check out before heading out into the city in search of breakfast. I then got a banh mi in a small Vietnamese restaurant.

Back at the hostel I ran into Brigitte, my former roommate from Peru and Leni and Anne, from my program and spent the rest of my time with them before the shuttle picked me up to the airport.

The flight to Christchurch went by very quickly and I got my luggage back very quickly. I only had to wait briefly for my dad in the pick-up parking lot. And then he was finally there and it felt too surreal again, but I was very happy to see him again. He didn't pick me up in my future bus, but in the car of a neighbor from Germany who had started his journey back home earlier in the day. At the time, my van was still in the workshop waiting to be registered. The neighbor's friend, Miška, was actually supposed to take over the car, but she was hit by a car a few days earlier and was now in the hospital. The doctors couldn't emphasize enough how lucky she was to escape with "only" a broken foot, a laceration to her head, multiple abrasions and a concussion.

We made our way to Duncan's and I finally met the New Zealander who had been looking after our van all these years. He welcomed me very happily and kindly and provided me with a bed, bathroom and food. I helped him and my dad with tasks around the house. We had a daily program, also because we had to drive into town to our car almost every day. So apart from the industrial side of Christchurch, I haven't seen that much in Chch😂🥲 We also visited Miška twice in the week before she went back to Germany on Monday. When we visited, we took the opportunity to wander around the city center for a bit. It was nice to see the other sides of Chch.

The car finally came out of the workshop on Friday and dad spent the weekend repairing the brakes.

We then took the other car on Sunday for a day trip to Akaroa. On this trip I had to drive on the left side for the first time, which I think I managed quite well😌 We had booked a boat tour and I had to buy a cape and sunscreen on site because I had to do all of that had forgotten at home. The boat tour lasted a little over two hours and we learned a lot about the history of Akaroa and also saw dolphins, penguins and seals!😍

On Monday morning we drove the bus to the workshop again and were finally able to pick it up again in the evening with MOT!! Now ONLY the drive shaft, the thermostat and a membrane on the brake need to be replaced and an oil change also needs to be done. The date for the drive shaft is Monday🥳

Madlen is coming to me from Auckland on Wednesday and we hope to finally be able to start our trip properly as soon as possible.