Paula’s walk on the wild side
We’re a bit limited on the communications front at the moment: Christchurch is a city almost devoid of wi-fi hotspots, so most blogging is off-line and Paula and I feel particularly cut-off. Our iPhones are reduced to phonebrix.
We initially compared Christchurch to Canberra, on the basis of size particularly, but it is a far older and more English city. Actually, city is stretching it a bit: Christchurch is rather more like big country town. Think Nowra with a nice city centre.
Jetstar did everything they could to dissuade us from budget overseas airlines. Maybe V is OK, but they almost made us pay per pee (and one of the four loos was out of order). I hope Qantas is better organized on the way back.
As usual, the Kiwis are charming. The apartment, while small, is ok and we found good places to eat and drink on the first night. We plan to cook simple meals where possible to keep the costs down.
Dom managed a fantastic cocktail on his first night – make the most of it, moneybags – and the local Monteiths brew is very nice. We found a good Mexican place that served light and fresh food and this passed the evening, which went on forever due to the long, long twilight. In fact, it wasn’t dark until ten.
Our adventure today was not quite as intended. The plan was to take the gondola to the rim of the crater which forms Lytelton Harbour. It has a spectacular view in all directions and was a great photo spot. Flushed with success and throwing caution to the winds, we decided to take an easy walk.
The first rule of walking is, as we well know, to always take a map. Two wrong turns later, we were bashing down a fairly uneven track with no bloody idea. The photos were fabulous, but Dom quickly became dehydrated and the rest of us hot and bothered, as we hadn’t taken water.
At the end of the track lay… More track. And Paula’s doom! Climbing a stile that led to the road back, she slipped and twisted her ankle. Basically immobilized, she managed the hobble to the road, and then we phoned the gondola base station for rescue.
Help arrived in the form of the mountain bike crash truck. Paula sat up front with Craig, the driver, while Liam, Dom and I sat on the tray with bike racks. We got the scenic tour to base station through some very salubrious suburbs.
So here we are – at least Paula and I are – in Christchurch Hospital, waiting for the result of her x-rays. We’ve been here for about two and a half hours (since about two). An update follows!
