09.-10.12. - Day 3-4 - Christchurch

Arriving at the airport, the first stop is the car rental pick-up after immigration. Our 'new' rolling fridge and wardrobe for the next four weeks is an ancient, rattling Nissan Tiida (hence named 'Tilda') that drinks 91 octane regular gasoline by the liter and has a meager 207,000 km on the clock.

Haven't driven on the left side of the road in ages, bustling Christchurch is a good training ground. The usual mistakes happen, like using the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal, briefly being a wrong-way driver, driving too far to the right and almost ripping off side mirrors, etc. It seems the New Zealanders like to honk their horns a lot, at least we are constantly being honked at, which is not surprising given our driving style... Until we realize that we have been driving with the trunk open since the airport...

... Luckily, everything is still there... However, this will by no means be the last time it happens, but it will happen to us quite often... The car is really a rolling wreck. But at least from now on we will get used to not packing loose small items in the trunk...

To overcome our jet lag, which surprisingly doesn't really happen, we have booked a hostel in Christchurch for the first night from Hong Kong.... But not just any hostel, but the former converted prison...

Quickly throw our luggage into the room, take a shower, and off we go on a discovery tour through the city at a pleasant 20 degrees.

Christchurch is green, has a small-town feel and is quite unspectacular, but nice. In fact, you can still see the damage from the great earthquake of 2011 in many places, very astonishing.

Of the 4 open restaurants in the center, we decide on the Mexican restaurant and then fall asleep in the prison after a full and satisfying meal.