September 21 Monday I walked down to the Market street post office and mailed off a package to home. Postage: $100. That hurts and I still have too much stuff with me. I went to the Maritime Museum which was rather small and I went through it quickly. There was an exhibition on the history of the bikini, which was not as exciting as it might sound. They have three or four vessels that you can tour, but they all cost additional and so I gave them a miss. Next I went up to the Observatory and spent nearly an hour there, seeing the old telescopes and other things there. The caretaker was a friendly, but monstrously overweight man. Then as I was walking back to Asylum, I ran into Jon, my Scottish travelmate from earlier in my trip. One of the guys in the hostel said they had seen him, so it was not a complete shock to see him. We talked for a bit and he said he would join Danny and I when we got something to eat later in the evening. At about 6pm the three of us got together, but finding a place to please a Scottish, Korean, and American palate was not easy. We ended up at a pizza parlor, which was fine and cheap. Jon has decided to head back home within a week, instead of staying until November as he had planned earlier. Danny is excited about his new job. He said the first day went well, but he is worried about being lonely in Sydney. There are not very many Koreans here.

September 22 Tuesday I got up at 5:55, did my final bit of packing, slid my key under the reception door, dropped off my linens and went to the shuttle bus pickup spot. I ate my two bananas and an apple while waiting. There were only a couple other people in the bus, but we made many more stops and were full when we arrived at the airport. The many stops took longer than I was comfortable with and I kept watching the clock. My flight was at 8:50am, but it was an international one and in theory I should be there two hours early. I checked my bag at 7:35 and they got on the radio saying they were closing my flight after me. So anyone getting there later would not be allowed to fly. That was a big relief for me. I had an isle seat so did not get to see much during the flight and it was overcast when we arrived in Christchurch. I changed the 21 Australian dollars I still had to New Zealand dollars and caught a shuttle to the city center. My arrangement with the Dumbles, who I was to couchsurf with, was that I could arrive after 5pm. That meant I had nearly three hours to explore. Normally that would be plenty to do something, but I had my pack, my daypack and another bag, so I did not venture very far. I changed some more money and at 5 caught a bus heading towards the suburb of Opawa. Thankfully the directions the Dumbles had sent me were very good and I got off at the right stop and had a short walk to their house. They showed me my room which is a cottage by the garage. Very nice, private space with its own bathroom. Their daughter Maddie is 4 and like most small children likes to be the center of attention. Her grandmother was having a birthday and they were there to celebrate it with the Dumbles, but Maddie wanted everyone to know that even if it was grandmas day to be the star, she was still the second star. There is a two hour time difference between Australia and New Zealand and I had gotten up earlier than usually this morning, so after a while I headed out to the cottage, read for a bit and went to bed.

September 23 Wednesday I walked all over CHCH today, starting from the Opawa suburb where I'm staying at the moment, through an industrial section, moving along the south end of the city center, visiting backpackers (and finding a person who is leaving tomorrow to tour the country), most of the three city walks, the botanical gardens, the Museum, the main Art gallery, and other places. It was overcast all day and actually rained off and on, but I always had somewhere to duck into when it did. I was just finishing the Botanical Gardens when the first showers hit and so I spend some time in the Canterbury Museum. I liked the Around the World Backpackers and will probably go back there to stay once I leave the Dumble's. I met up with another person I had contacted through Couchsurfing, Alice, for smoothies and conversation. She is working with World Vision in public relations and has done quite a bit of volunteering/traveling. After that I met up with the potential travel partner who is leaving tomorrow. She had been on a day trip and we were both hungry so over some sub sandwiches we talked about the plans she had and how it might work for the two of us. She also had one other person to meet before making a decision. She could only take one more person. She promised to call later that evening to let me know yes or no. It turned out to be no. So I will keep looking at options.

September 24 Thursday I walked into town again, made a reservation for four nights at Around the World, and talked to four different rental companies about vehicles. Then I went to the library and did some number crunching. I had a really good quote for a Spaceship and it looked better and better as I worked the numbers, so I went back and booked it. It is a long term relocation and because I got it in Sept it still falls under their off season rate structure. If I had had to start in October the best rate I could hope for would be NZ$75 per day. I got it for NZ$25 per day. Now if I can find someone to share some fuel expenses it will work out even better, but I have the freedom to do just what I want if I choose. And because it is a space ship it has a bed, frig, cooker, etc for less than renting a car would be. Too bad Gabe is still trying to work up the nerve to join me. Come on, the travelings fine, Gabe. (Get well soon, back, I want to have a good friend to share my journey.

September 25 Friday After breakfast, when Maddie and her mom had left for kindy and squash, I left the couchsurfing experience behind and walked the 2+ miles to Around the World Backpackers, where I had made my reservation. Four nights at NZ$20/night. This is a smaller hostel run by a family living on the premises. It has free internet (non free wireless which I am not using, it is expensive), a large cd/dvd library (I ripped a few cd's using the free computer and my flashdrive), a nice kitchen, big backyard (too cold to hang out there yet anyway), small library/book exchange, etc. All the things that make a hostel nice. The dorms are only four beds each so that is also nicer than staying in a 16 bed dorm to get the cheapest rate. Even though it was just after 10 I could check right into my room. I walked to the address (across town) that indicated the nearest SDA church just to see where it was. The building had no signs on it and was locked up, but looked more like an office building than a church. I picked up some potato noodles for my dinner and they were very spicy. The texture was different from what I expected and they are not my favorite, but that could just be a mistake in how I prepared them. Earlier in the day I also sent a few emails to the Chinese embassy to make sure I can get the correct visa there. Just like with the Brazilian info I got a few days ago, it would cost me $160 as a US citizen, but only $60 as a swiss citizen. I also started looking into a side project that John Hemphill had given me to try and get a birth certificate for his grandfather. I now have the address and will stop by the Christchurch office of records on Monday.