Since I last updated I went down to the bar with my Irish roommates. I am trying to be more sociable. i really stressed myself out this morning about sorting my car hire but I just rang the freephone number of Quality Rentals and the guy on the ither end said he would pick me up at nine in the morning to get my car (for $19 a day). i also booked my accommodation for the next two days. I am going to stay in a hostel called Bon Accord in Akaroa which is around an h...

I spent the day on the TransApline Railway which was great and helped lift my mood a bit. I sat down on the train and a guy in his twenties sat next to me. When he spoke he had a familiar accent. I asked where he was from and he said Belfast. When I told him I was from Comber he was like "No Way!". He was good company for the first half of the journey but he didn't make the return trip. He had got talking to a woman at the airport when he flew in and she put him ...

I arrived safe and well after a day and a half of travel if a little groggy from the time travel (back to LA, then forward to NZ). I've walked most of Christchurch by now and been to the Botanic Gardens. I went to the cinema last night with three girls from my dorm and even got in cheap as I had a hostel card. This morning I went to the Aquarium which is just across the road from the hostel. I didn't manage to see the tuatara as it must have been hiding but I did...