New Zealand Road-Trip: Part One

For that one person who still reads this, do you remember when I said I'll write about uni life this time? You don't? It's been how many weeks since I wrote the last post? I'm so sorry. Anyway, I'm not writing about uni life this time. I lied.
I recently took a road trip through New Zealand with some friends of mine: Alex, Ryn, Thomas, and Kyle, and to put it modestly, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life up to this point. Let me explain.
Bust out your New Zealand maps as we travel through Aotearoa!
The All-Nighter
Since we didn't want this trip to bankrupt us, we decided on the cheapest flight from Auckland to Christchurch, 8:20 am on Sunday 12 April. If we wanted to get to the airport at a reasonable time, we needed to be at the airport at 6:20 am at the latest. And because we didn't have a car at the time, we needed to take the 5:00 am shuttle from the centre of Auckland. That means I needed to leave my flat at 4:30 am. Who needs sleep anyway?
We had weapons to keep from sleeping. Armed with my recently fixed Nintendo Wii U, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and a cup of tea, we charged into the night with hopes high.
Strange things happen when I'm tired. I don't remember everything, but eventually I was ranting about paying a $2/day tax to keep my friends in New Zealand. It is probably for the better if no one ever tries to talk to me between the hours of 2 am and 3 am. Luckily, Ryn gave me some tea, and I found myself in time to pack and leave by 4:30 with Alex and Ryn.
We met up with Kyle at the bus stop and got to the airport at a reasonable time. A reasonable time means that we had 2 hours to sit and wait. The lesson I learned in those hours is to not eat anything at an airport that involves old bacon. That wasn't fun.
Christchurch
The flight wasn't too long and we found ourselves in Christchurch, one of the main cities in New Zealand.

With our bellies empty (except mine, I didn't want any food for a few more hours), we decided to go to a coffee shop while we waited for Thomas to arrive (he booked a later flight). It was at this point that we realized that we had been awake for a very long time.

A very comfy couch

As soon as Thomas joined our group, we rented our car (2005 Toyota Camry) and drove to our first hostel.

After checking in, we ate some fish n' chips and fell asleep at 2:30 pm. At 8:30 pm, we woke up, ate dinner and hung out, planning what we would do next.

With many hours of sleep under our belts, we took to the streets of Christchurch.

Apparently, the royal family had followed us from Auckland to Christchurch, so we decided to take a peek. None of us saw too much, but I think I caught a glimpse of Kate (but not a picture).

This part is a little more serious. These pictures show the damage from the earthquake in 2011, an event that is now a part of New Zealand's history.

CTV Memorial

Fortunately, Christchurch has been rebuilding since then. Here are some cool places.

Shown below is the Cardboard Cathedral. This is meant to stand for 50 years.

These pictures were interesting to look at because they're more impressionist than most churches I've gone to. It was hard to see the image until I looked through my camera to take pictures (for you nice people, please read my blog).

Re:START Mall

This mall was built for the stores that were ruined in the earthquake. It was amazing to see what they could do with just shipping containers.

A Park

I can't remember what the name of this park is, but I went there. It was cool. I'm always shocked to see tropical looking trees mixed with other plants.

Thomas is hiding the word "GHOST"

Didn't see this one coming. Had to take it in for a second.

Silver Fern: the New Zealand plant

More to come soon (I hope). Don't worry, the best is yet to come!