We did have a few highlights from Christchurch, first is the time we spent with Joel and Sheena. They welcomed us into their home regardless of how we smelled and gave us a real bed to sleep on and a real kitchen to cook in, hot showers and laundry and best of all their company! We went to a wonderful climbing area our second night with them, and after our stint with 'freedom camping' we joined them and their friends Cameron and Alison at a rugby (my first!) game. Thanks to Joel I am now a Crusaders fan - it was a great game! At the end of the match; which was the season opener; all the fans were allowed down onto the pitch to meet the players, get autographs and have photos taken. It was a pretty cool way to start my rugby education.
The other interesting thing we did in Christchurch was appear on National Kiwi TV (NZ TV3) to defend 'Freedom Camping' and the reputation of budget travellers across the country. We were pounced upon while enjoying our morning coffee in Sumner at a parking spot next to the Sumner Surf Club. We spent a number of nights in that area because it's free, there are showers and toilet facilities and it's a well lit and safe area. The woman who approached us gave us an article she printed from the internet and asked if we'd heard about the threat that all 'freedom campers should be shot' issued by the head of the NZ Motorhome Association. Of course we hadn't so she spent 10 minutes or so telling us about the history behind the article and then she asked if we would like to be on TV to be interviewed regarding the topic. Iain and I were fairly hesitant, we didn't know the program Campbell Live or what it was like, we didn't want to be ambushed on live television. However, the woman assured us it would be short and pretty 'fluffy' and so we agreed.
As the day went on we were more and more hesitant about agreeing to go on, but we'd given our word so at 5pm we went back to Sumner and met the camera crew. After all was said and done we were on live TV for 6 minutes and the guy we were defending ourselves against was named Dick and had a handlebar moustache...no matter what we said we'd look like the good guys! As soon as the taping was finished and we were extricated from our microphones and camera wires we headed to a local pub to watch ourselves on the internet. There were a few delirious phone calls "You'll NEVER guess what WE just did!!!" on the way and a lot of laughing at ourselves. We do have the strangest adventures!
We headed south out of Christchurch on Feb 21st and continued our exploits on the coast.
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