Off roading, Kiwi style....

My Landlord (Duane) is a pretty outdoorsy guy, that coupled with his uber DIY skills and being a mechanic by trade makes for some very interesting hobbies of sorts. One of which involves a little Toyota Startlet that has been disemboweled, retrofitted and finally adorned with an Eeyore. The result is a little beast that he uses to trim the hedges, trim the apple tree and of course to have some plain ol' fun. It was an unusually warm and sunny winter day and he invited us out for a drive in his Startlet. How fun can that be???

Well to start off, we had to tow this little beast (since its an unregistered frankenstein of a car) to a prime location, being the semi-swampy land beside lake Ellesmere (which itself had a very calm, melancholic and mystical feel to it - the water was milky and perfectly still, fog shrouded the further reaches which was odd considering the clear day it was). So we finally reach the end of the road, quite literally. The beast was unhooked and we jumped into it and quite literally went off the road and onto the mushy undulating grounds by Ellesmere, riddled with bushes and tiny tributaries.

It was basically free for all and anything goes, so off we went on a crazy drifting, spinning ride and quite often running through bushes (which by the way are an introduced species and are considered a pest). Some of them were as high and wide as the car itself I kid you not. It was rather exhilarating ramming into these thorny pests, especially the split second before you actually hit and run over or through it ! We were basically gripping to the retrofitted grip bars the entire ride as Duane showed us what the beast was truly made for. All good fun under the expert hands of Duane and a good immersive experience in Kiwi culture ;D

It has certainly been ages since I did something for the first time, and this will definitely be one to remember and hopefully re-live when summer comes around.

These pictures hardly represent the action that took place because I spent most of the time gripping on for dear life, but I hope the video gives an idea....

Essential grip bars

Juice for the beast

Beast in tow

More grip bars

Got bush?

Well yank it out!

Duane and PJ

Surveying the land for most fun route

Dead sheep

The unexpected

New Zealand generally experiences mild winter with little snow. So when there was a forecast for snow over Sunday night to Monday, I was thinking we would be in store for a little dusting. Lo and behold, Monday morning came with a good 10cm of nice fluffly white stuff everywhere and that wasn't it. Mother nature thought Chch needed a little more winter cheer and the snow kept pouring till late afternoon. All in all, we had a good 20cm. It masked all that reminded us of the earthquake and gave us some time to put everything aside and just appreciate the serene quiet white landscapes as the flakes gently makes its way down.

I have to say that as nice as it is, it left quite a mess. Chch, as pleasant an tidy as it is are not very prepared to handle snow. The roads were pretty snowed in, even the main ones in the city. I managed to get to work but chose the wrong parking spot. When I tried to leave, I couldn't get out and my car stuck out onto the road like a possum waiting to be roadkill. Thankfully traffic was very thin and my colleague and her family was around to help. While waiting for them, many kind people offered to drag my out of my slushy prison - terribly nice Kiwis! Eventually I got out with the help of three adults pushing from the back ;D

So I feel pretty privileged to have experienced many rare natural occurrences here in ChCh, I wonder what else the future has installed....????

                                          The River Avon

                                          Fall where it may..

                                          Frozen clothes line

                                          View from my window

                                          A lawn of snow

                                          My car stuck as I tried to get out of my badly chosen parking spot

                                                   Inviting warm glow of our house...

                                          Punting on the Avon anyone?

Summit Road

Christchurch has a pretty unique setting. It sits near the eastern coast, farther west are the southern alps. Just south are some hilly outcrops leftover from a giant extinct volcano. Its remains sits just on the other side of the hills forming what is known as the Banks Peninsula. This places Chch in sort of a valley by the sea.

Along this little chain of hills (averaging 400+ meters) is a scenic drive that practically traverses the entire ridge. It is called the Summit Road and is the playground for all those seeking time away from the daily grind. Off road bikers, trampers, model glider enthusiasts (thanks to the perpetually unrelenting wind) and even those seeking a leisure drive (thats me) congregate here over the weekend.

It's definitely worth a visit for the great views it affords. To the north is a complete view of Chch city center and its immediate suburbs. The actual CBD is a cluster of "tall" buildings roughly in the center of the pic. This is still cordoned off to public and will probably be demolished and rebuilt. Apart from that, most of what you see in the pic are up and running thanks to the efforts of builders and road makers who have done a stand-up job! To the south is Banks Peninsula. Its a circular shaped peninsula that was formed as a result of a giant volcano imploding on itself and going kaput. Its created a complex network of smaller peninsulas that extend from the core, like a 100 legged bloated stubby starfish. The picture shows the northern part of it. Plenty of hiking opportunities there for great coastal views! I didn't take many pics because 3/4 of the road is still closed due to earthquake damage, but whatever I could see was still worth the little trip.

Some experts believe that the volcano's past activity generated dormant fault lines all around Chch that got activated from Septembers quake. Guess having such unique and beautiful landscapes in your backyard comes with a price :P

 Those guys at the far end were actually flying that glider, not really sure how they control it though....

 

Was that a big one?

It has been 5 months plus since the Feb 22, but I thought I'd talk a bit about the whole earth moving fiasco.

We were working in our lab on the 3rd floor, happily pipetting and mixing away and suddenly there was this vibration and loud noise building up. I was wondering if it was some works going on next door and how disruptive it was. Within seconds it became stronger with and up down motion and we ducked under the benches as the floor kept moving violently now in an upward and downward fashion. I grabbed onto the leg of the bench but was still being shaken about. As it stopped, everything went dead silent there was a slow side to side roll like a pendulum were on its final motion. I then asked the question to my colleague which I vividly remember till today, "Was that a big one?" only to receive an incredulous "YES!" The floor warden came in yelling get out of the building and everyone was soon evacuated onto the ground level of the hospital. We didn't have to wait long to see injured people streaming into the A&E. Parts of the hospital itself had to be evacuated and the carpark was turned into a temporary ward.

As my colleague and I walked into town to meet with his wife, it was apparent how horrific the quake was. Only a day ago I walked through the same streets bustling with people and heritage buildings standing proud. Today it was bustling with people trying to flee or get to a loved one. Spires and statues had toppled, entire buildings and blocks of shops had collapsed, the ground which always seemed solid had split and contorted releasing endless floes of liquefaction that eventually damaged hundreds of cars (my colleagues included). It was a fretful night for everyone having to endure a night riddled with aftershocks without power and water. The city council soon sprang into action led by the much admired mayor Bob Parker. They, along with other authorities worked tirelessly to restore order and calm. The residents of ChCh as well as the surrounding towns also rose up to offer every conceivable help from accommodation to even driving down to provide water to those affected. Students quickly took to their shovels and helped residents shovel all the liquefaction that accumulated up to 2 feet at some places.

The healing and repair process was slow and still in progress. Aftershocks still remind us of the fragile state we live in though they are far and in between now. Cantabrians have developed a resilience or rather acceptance to the new state in which we live in. Everyone develops a higher tolerance to shakes and rattles and is more prepared when a bigger one does strike. To those who were too badly affected, they have no choice but to relocate.The CBD is still closed off and probably will be mostly condemned and rebuilt. ChCh will never look the same in its physical sense, but to those who remained, it has instilled the same resolve and strength to rise and move on.

Further down under

So it has finally come to be after years of deliberation that I would throw myself back into the life of a student. Many potential places came to mind for many varied reasons. However, the path of least resistance brought me to a land far, far away where the grass is green, the air is clean, rivers are crystal clear and farm animals roam free - the land of the Kiwis, Christchurch to be precise.

My first impressions were of a dated place somewhat stuck in the 80s in terms of technology, fashion and architecture. It almost felt as if the Britain came over with high spirits during their hey days of colonialism and just gave up along the way, perhaps because its just too darned far away from everywhere else?? However, these first impressions have somewhat changed along the course of my existence in this hidden corner of the world. I have slowly realized that Kiwis are just minimalists with a passion for sports and the outdoors.

Apart from the hardware, the people are fantastically friendly and relaxed. Though it may take awhile to comprehend the Kiwi English. I am still having troubles understanding my housemates and its quite tiring asking them to always repeat themselves. So I just end up smiling or making generic remarks making me look very socially inept, but I will persevere!

Campus is a modest 7 story building  linked to the Christchurch Hospital. The main University of Otago campus is at Dunedin which is about 300+ kilometers south. Our campus is known as the Christchurch School of Medicine. It is flooded with Malaysians medical students, presumably those overlooked by the local education system. The postgraduates make a reasonable population with a diverse background.

Christchurch town proper is pretty compact, a small square grid of not too impressive office blocks interspersed with some heritage buildings. The suburbs however extends out making it very spread out. Running through the heart of the city and beyond is the River Avon that meanders lazily through suburbs, Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens lending to the relaxed atmosphere of the garden city. Hagley Park, though not as large as Central Park is pretty impressive with its own golf course, rugby fields, cricket grounds, netball grounds, horticulture centre, wide open spaces and also houses the botanical gardens. Its located just beside the CBD and is a refuge for everyone, young or old, chihuahua or german Sheppard.

I live at the south western limits of Christchurch in a suburb called Halswell. Its a simple single story house in a division that is surrounded by farms. Its very quiet and peaceful. Housemates include the owner and a young couple. All terribly friendly and tidy ;D The owner is a mechanic who is also a DIY extraordinaire. He has all sorts of tools in his ultra neat garage for any conceivable task. He also has a huge backyard with a lawn, an apple tree, BBQing area and vegetable planters which I hope to dabble in when I have the time. My favourite feature at the moment is the log burner that I diligently tend to every evening to keep the house warm and toasty. You might think that by itself, the log burner would be inefficient at keeping the entire house warm... but the owner being the DIY extraordinaire, installed an exhaust system by himself which runs on a thermostat and sucks the warm air from around the burner and pumps it to the bed rooms via vents. There are many other neat stuff that he has done, hopefully I will learn a thing or two from staying here! The part I like least is that all 4 of us share only one toilet and one shower. Apparently this is fairly common in Kiwi Land - having inordinate number of rooms sharing 1 toilet and 1 bathroom. Thankfully everyone else leaves before I even wake up, so far so good....

Cost of living here is kinda a mixed bag of good and bad. Generally groceries are pretty expensive with meats sitting high up on the ridiculously expensive scale and kiwi fruits and the very bottom. Tomatoes range from generally acceptable to what the heck get that out of my trolley. Eating out is very much a luxury too, a simple foodcourt meal would cost a minimum of $9 excluding drink. Restaurants easily rack up the bill if you're looking for an appetizer-mains-dessert-drinks kinda thing. Cars are pretty cheap here, even cheaper that USA. Fuel is pretty much market rate. Houses are pretty reasonable (my references being Singapore and KL :P). Services are also a killer, cheapest haircut so far is $15, and as with most european countries labour is charged by the hour by mechanincs, plumbers, etc.... Be warned, brush up on your DIY skills before thinking of moving down to this corner of the world. On the flipside, I think that wages are pretty ok - minimum wage is NZD13/hour.

So that's a snapshot of Kiwi Land through my lens thus far, more to come...