Couchwarming Party!

Theme Song for the Day:

1. "Wonky Donkey", by Craig Smith

THE ARTS CENTER ARTS & CRAFTS MARKET

The mist in the streets of Christchurch today was a superfine drizzle that you could barely see swirling gently down from the grey skies above.  It sits on my hair and clothes like dew drops in the morning. 

We tour the Arts Center Market early in the afternoon and wander through stalls of hand-made merino wool clothing, carved greenstone jewellery, and beautiful photography of wild Kiwi landscapes.  Lunch is a spicy Lebanese Lamb Wrap from a street vendor, while my hosts and tourguides munch on a Czech Potato Pancake with Beef and Sauerkraut [I’ve never seen a Czech Food street vendor before!].

NOTICE THE DR SEUSS TUFTS GROWING ALONG THE RIVER BANKS

Hagley Park is 400+ acres of lush greenery that we walk through to go home.  A crowd is cheering on a rugby match as joggers bounce past us along the river, which is lined with willow trees and other Seussian water plants.  Ducks paddle and dive and waddle their way along the fast-flowing water, which is crystal clear and looks no more than thigh-deep.

It's a laid-back Saturday afternoon in misty Christchurch, and we spend it preparing for the party tonight; Marina is making chocolate truffles! Turns out last night that we missed the CouchSurfMeet by a day - it was on Thursday, not Friday - so Matt and I commiserated by sampling a couple rounds of the bubbly drink specials before Marina joined up with us an hour later after her work event.  When life gives you lemons, make ...sparkling wine!

After-drinking food is good here: the souvlaki joint was unexpectedly closed so we found a good Chinese take-out place right across the City Square.  This one even sold fish & chips ...apparently, not uncommon in these parts!

The festivities tonight are over at award-winning local musician Craig Smith's new diggs.  His new song, Wonky Donkey, won the 2009 APRA NZ Children's Song of the Year Award, and I am lucky enough to sneak a peek at the children's book version which is released in October.  

Craig is an easy conversationalist with a warm smile and a welcoming aura.  We swap stories about our respective journeys and find that we have walked similar paths: a few years ago, he closed up shop - after running his own business in sales and marketing for ten years or so - to feed his soul and pursue his music, and hasn't been happier ever since.

Craig also happens to be the Couchsurfing Ambassador for Christchurch which means that tonight I meet more locals, as well as fellow Couchsurfers from France, Germany, Canada, and LA... and, believe it or not, met someone whose Mum may have worked with my Mum in the Dole Pineapple Cannery in Hawaii... !  

I *HEART* Couchsurfing.

The world lies in the hands of those who have the courage to dream and to take the risk of living out their dreams - each according to his or her own talent."

-Paulo Coellho-

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Arrival in Christchurch

CHRISTCHURCH CITY SQUARE BY NIGHT

Christchurch is cold, wet, and wonderfully misty as I am driven to my hosts’ apartment at one in the morning.

The streetlights infuse everything with a warm orange glow, and I’ve already made new friends while standing in line at customs.  I like New Zealand

Marina [a.k.a The Swiss Temptress] and Matt [a.k.a. The Vagabonding Kiwi] are my Couchsurfing hosts for the next couple days as I make preparations for a short roadtrip south to Queenstown for some snowboarding fun.  They met at a Backpackers’ pub in London and between them have traveled through Europe, South America, the United States, and Japan; we are meeting up later tonight at a CouchSurfMeet held on the couches of,  Le Plonk of course, with some of the local Couchsurfing Crew.  Should make for a fun night out…

LE PLONK, AFTER A COUPLE GLASSES OF LE PLONK

Breakfast this morning was at an organic café called Vic's 5 minutes walk from Matt’n’Marina’s home that makes the world’s best fresh bread.  Think home-made sourdough and honey ciabbata and rye loafs – I love the smell of fresh bread in the morning!

Christchurch is one of two cities in the world whose drinking water is so pure that it comes out of the tap untreated.  The other city?  Evian, France.  I am drinking the equivalent of expensive, pure bottled spring water straight from the tap.

Lunch à a café-come-boardroom aptly named, well, The Boardroom where you can meet clients for a cuppa, or hire a private conference room for more privacy.  I’m here to interview Peter ‘Pink Gloves’ Taylor, Organizer of Christchurch’s Greendrinks event, and all-around Sustainability Marketing Guru.  He quickly turns the tables on me and produces his own video camera to record an impromptu interview with me …

Peter is a bright-eyed man with a quick wit and twinkle in his eye who is involved with a projects in the business and political areneas, all focussed on helping businesses and community embrace and adopt sustainability.

There are many different accents and faces in the streets of Christchurch as I wander around to sort out my new cell phone and find an internet café (there’s a good one next to Starbucks in the city square, $3/ 1^st hr, highspeed wireless connection).  The sales girl at Vodafone hasn’t heard of the EntirelyWorldFamous competition, so in a fit of shameless self-promotion I take it upon myself to educate her about it, and of course ask for her vote.  Thanks Hannah!

Dinner is a yet another café (there are some good ones here) called The Honey Pot that is a favorite of Matt’n’Marina …serving breakfast all day, this is my kind of place. 

STEAMING HOT BLACKCURRANT

The customer favorite on the dinner menu here is the B.B.C. - Chicken breast stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes ad smoked cheese, wrapped in bacon and served with baby potatoes, panfried seasonal veges and a spicy BBQ sauce.  Fowl Play is also recommended, while Hot Lips and Jimmy The Fish also look like good choices.

I opt for the breakkie customer favorite: The Breakfast Muffin - strips of chunky bacon,  fried egg, sliced avocado smothered in home-made hollanaise sauce - and am not disappointed [thanks for the recommendation Sharla!].  It lasts about 2 minutes as I wash it down with some Hot Blackcurrant, a wine-colored drink that tastes medieval and warms my insides.

There is all kinds of art on the walls and a mellow roots-reggae soundtrack soothes and chills me out.  

Welcome to New Zealand!