A happy-go-lucky English rambler dude goes to New Zealand for a year. Here he interfaces with some of those he left behind and details his nefarious activities. Or summat.
Recently clicked on MP3s - 7th June 2005 The Lucksmiths - Warmer Corners
Jens Lekman - When i said i wanted to be your dog
The Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Teenage Fanclub - Man Made
Laura Veirs - Carbon Glacier
The Decemberists - Picaresque
The Eels - Blinking Lights
Monday, September 10, 2001
Starting to feel nicely settled in after my first week in Christchurch, although worryingly like Alan Partridge staying in a Travel Tavern, as most of the people in the hostel disappear off to some other exotic location after a night or two, wheras i've been slobbing around the place all week, and have just booked in for another 4 nights :-(
I have however had an extremely enjoyable 10mile yomp over the Port Hills (The rim of a long extinct volcano), and encountered lots of new and interesting animals and plants, as well as mountain sheep, mountain cows (Unheard of at home) as well as loads of super fit kiwis all out and about doing their FULL ON outdoor activites MT Biking, road biking, climbing and running, it seemed only foreigners (I met a German Forestry lecturer - who pretended not to be interested in football HAHAHAHA!) and unfit kiwis actually went walking.
To rectify this situation i've hired a moutain bike for tomorrow, and i'll be heading back out to the Port Hills (Mount Herbert is shut for lambing :-( to impress the locals by doing loads of my trademark "endos", "wheelies" and "skids" and certainly not teetering along looking terrified - No Way!
4:03 am Wednesday, September 05, 2001
Well i've made it, and am just settling into the relaxed way of life in Christchurch by doing sod all. Other than pottering round town, taking the odd photo and appallingly buying a CD (VivaDixieSubmarineTransmissionPlot by Sparklehorse - it was a bargain HONEST!) when i've got nothing to play it on, and have somewhat more important things to be buying.
The jet lag is starting to ease off as well, i get far fewer woozy spells during the day, and have managed to stay up until past midnight! (Though the amount of spelling misatkes i'm making in this posting prove that i'm not totally over it yet :-(
Well i've been in the internet caff for a while now, and i've got to go and buy a hut pass, so i can stay in all the handy huts dotted around the mountains in NZ for the next year. I've also spotted the first mountain i'm heading for (Possibly tomorrow) the rather daft sounding Mount Herbert (900ish metres) , though i don't want to go for anything too hardcore to start with, so it'll do nicely.
5:10 am Saturday, September 01, 2001
As I write, young Mark is packing his backpack and trying not to fall asleep. It's 01:20 on 1/9/2001, and the geezer needs to get his butt to Birstall by 10am. There is idle chatter of going into town and buying a wallet and a LCFC shirt, but this is clearly just fancy talk.
1:24 am
