Christchurch Central

While in Quakechurch I took the opportunity to visit the CBD, well what is left of it. For those playing at home the central city of Christchurch has been cordon off since the 22nd February 2011 earthquake. It was very surreal wondering around the parts of the CBD that they have re-opened to the general public. I want to say that a good 80% of the buildings have been demolished so far leaving just empty lots behind. So standing on the streets I stood on almost 2 year ago, it was very hard to even remember what some of those former buildings use to look like. Some of these lots have now been turned into parking lots others are still just an empty lot slowly being reclaimed by nature. However the Art Gallery have teamed up with some artist to form a project called 'Outer Spaces'. Which pretty much make use of these empty lots and fill them with art exhibitions.

One of my favourite sites was the Monopoly Space on Manchester Street, of course they couldn't call it that because of copy right issues. They used an old digger as the game token and they even build two green house.

There is also a bull and piano installation with actual working piano's. Where if you chose to you could play to your hearts content with no complaints what so ever. It was very strange however standing in front of what was my office building before the first quake in Sept 2010. Nothing is left however to indicate that a building once stood there all that is left is a empty dirt lot with some weeds growing in it.

There is one corner site though that to a visitor might just look like another fenced off empty lot and you would be forgiven thinking that there wasn't anything special about this site. All that remains there is the hints of the foundations of a building that once stood there, but unlike most sites there us a small sign on the fence. A small sign asking you to respect this site a site that holds not only a special place in my heart but to most New Zealanders. It's the CTV Site, its was where 115 souls perished on that fateful day in February. As I was sitting there for a few minutes paying my respects it was hard to comprehend what actually happened there and how it affect so many people not only in New Zealand but around the world.

Like I said before I had mixed feeling going back to Christchurch. However wondering through the CBD by myself gave me some time for quiet reflection. Which I thought was fitting as after all the whole CBD is really a reminder of what we have lost. But more important I believe it now holds the possibilities and opportunities Christchurch and New Zealand has for the future.

Surprise Visit to Aotearoa ...

Wow where do I begin I'm so behind again I can hear Mother G screaming at me from Inver-Vegas. Well when she isn't screaming at those bloody green pigs that is. But yes I did do a quick sneaky visit to the land of the long white cloud. There was a number of reasons for my return and I'm glad I did it as it confirmed in my head again that Christchurch/NZ isn't the country I want to be in for the next few years.

Anyhow as I mentioned in my previous post I didn't mention to many people that I will be coming to New Zealand only a select few who I knew had lives and would need warning and my parents so I can get a pick up from the port of air.

So I only had about 4 weeks in NZ and about 2 weeks in Christchurch area so I didn't have much time for sitting around. I borrowed my Aunties NZ sim card and went about to lie some more to all my friends. As they have never had this number and a select few knew my sister was back in Christchurch I pretended to be her wanting to deliver a present from the one and only ME. They all got excited and told my "sister" when they would be home to receive said present. To mosts disappointment there was no present and on top of that they then had to make me coffee. I can`t remember the last time I drank that much coffee in such a short time.

I got upto a lot of things while in NZ but I think I will blog about them separately. It was really cool however to see all my friends again even though I didn't get to see some while I was down there ,but I`m sure I will see them at Xmas potentially .... well thats if I go home then :P

Surprise visit to Victoria, BC

Ottawa Airport

So if you are unfortunate enough to follow me on Facebook you know that I am in New Zealand now and that I did the whole thing very secret squirrel like. Only a select few people knew I was coming home and the rest found out when I turned up at their doors. However when I first flew to Canada I flew Auckland, Vancouver, Victoria and since I was using that return ticket to fly home I had to fly out of Victoria again. Now for me going to Victoria is never a problem I love that city.

I went to Thomas Cook our local travel agent in the Gloucester Center here in the Nations Capital. It does remind me of visiting your Auntie who has doilies on everything. But long story short I booked my tickets to Victoria via Toronto. So at this point the lying started and I pretended to be flying to Toronto for a job interview with promise that I will fill in all my friends and family about my progress. My sister and Auntie even played along with the lie and no one was any wiser that I was full of shit. After about 7 hours of flying sitting in airports and listening to screaming kids I was finally in Victoria and back to my favourite place of residence the Ocean Island Backpackers.

Unbeknown to me it was Pride Week in Victoria ending with the parade on the 8th July the day which I would be flying out of Victoria New Zealand Bound. However luck would have it that the parade was at noon and my flight at 6pm enough time to watch the parade get drunk and board a flight pretending to be sober, that however was the Sundays problem.

I arrived in Victoria on Friday the 6th and went for a long stroll along the waterfront I didn't realise exactly how much I missed being near the ocean. The sea weed smell which I would have dismissed as a smelly smell any other day actually excited me along with the seagulls screams. I finished of the day with din dins at my favourite restaurant Cafe Mexico on Store Street (they got Om nom nom nom Mango Martini's) and then off to Paparazzi I went, to go and surprise my Victorian Peepz. Mr Glover respond was "you fucking lying bastard, your meant to be in Toronto" but I was quickly forgive and the Appleton drinking continued.

The next day I strolled down to Beacon Hill Park which sits on the edge of dowtown Victoria. To my surprise there was a free concert being held in the park as part of their summer events calendar. After sitting and enjoying the sun Mr Glover joined me in the park where we probably sat for close to an hour listening to some really good live music. After we couldn't take sitting on the hard ground anymore we went for a wander around James Bay with a brief stop at one of Mr Glover's friends then of to the bar again for preparations for the next day, the parade.

View from Mr Glover's Condo

 The next day I met Mr Glover outside the gay bar and we wandered downtown to find a good position to watch the parade. This was my first Pride Parade ever as up until recently I was very against them but that is a rant for another day. I actually really enjoyed the parade and kind of wished it was longer. Once the parade past us we joint the crowd in following it down the road to the sports ground where there was a market and stage set up. Once both me and Mr Glover got board of the market we wandered back to the bar where I had a few last Appletons before sadly having to catch a taxi to the airport and of to my next destination New Zealand. I really enjoyed my stay in Victoria and can't wait for my next visit there. the city really has a hold on my and when I'm away I miss it like I miss my home. The future only knows if I will ever actually live there but fingers crossed.

Below is some more photos but first here is a video of the whole parade at 38:40 I think you can see my walking with everyone behind the parade... :P

Till Laterz ...

VW we saw on our walk

At the Market thingy in the park after the parade thing

My Plane back to NZ

Papz float

New Zealand Day ...

RANT WARNING AHEAD:

Ok so I kept my last post kind of short not because I did not enjoy my Canada Day but because it kind of made me angry. If you scratch the surface in Canada you will find that there is tension between the 'First Nations' and the other Canadians and then there is the tensions between the French and the English people. However when it comes to Canada Day all of that bull is set aside and everyone celebrate being Canadian. It doesn't matter if your First Nation, French Canadian, English Canadian or recently a new Canadian on 1st July everyone can celebrate being Canadian.

It made me think how we in New Zealand have no National Day ok yes we have Waitangi Day when New Zealand as such was formed and its similar to Canada Day as 1st July is when they united to form Canada. However Waitangi day is the day the treaty between the English and the Maori was signed. So Waitangi day is pretty much the day that the English screwed over the Maori. Yes we still need to sort all that out but why is it our National Day I'm all for it to be a day of remembrance so that shit like that don't ever happen again. But why can't we have a day where we celebrate being kiwi and it doesn't matter who you are as long as you are proud to be called a kiwi. Waitangi Day doesn't celebrate our unity it celebrates the tension that still exist between the two peoples of New Zealand.

Like I said I don't believe we should get rid of Waitangi Day just that we need another day where all tension can be put aside and we can celebrate what it means to be kiwi. It will never happen though as New Zealand is a deeply divided nation and each year that gaps just gets bigger. But what do I know I'm just a South African, to most New Zealander's it doesn't matter that I'm legally a New Zealander and that I have lived here longer then I did in South Africa. To them I'm just a South African and in that it shows me that there is no unity in New Zealand.

Anyways that's my rant for the day ...

Canada Day ...

For those playing at home Canada Day is the day Canada celebrates being Canada, hmmm is there enough Canada's in this sentence? 

This is what Wikipedia has to say on the topic ...

Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada) is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act, 1867 (today called the Constitution Act, 1867, in Canada), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire.Originally called Dominion Day (French: Le Jour de la Confédération), the name was changed in 1982, the year the Canada Act was passed. Canada Day observances take place throughout Canada as well as by Canadians internationally.

Ok now that we got that out of the way, I started my day with catching up on my back log of doing nothing. If you read my previous blog post you will know that I had a fun filled afternoon and had to post pone me doing nothing till Canada Day morning as Kim would be at work and I could do it in peace.

Some skanks getting their Canada Day on ...

Me and Kim in Canadian Colours

Once Kim got home we had a few celebratory drink on the back deck before getting ready to embrace 'Canada Day' in the Nation's Capital. This involved getting our red and white clothing out and catching a bus to downtown Ottawa. About half the city had the same idea and there was hundreds of thousands of people in downtown Ottawa it was a sea of red and white. Our destination was Parliament Hill where a free concert was being held and our mission was to find Kim's mate in this sea of Red and White. We finally found her and settled in for a pretty good concert that included a performance from a local Montreal band 'Simple Plan' and due to this performance I like them even more as they can actually sing. They also had fireworks at the end of the concert however as pretty as they where I was very disappointed. We where told that they will be behind the parliament building which they where. The only problem was that they where coming from the river and if you been in Ottawa you will know that Parliament Hill (the hint is in the name) sits about 100m above the river. So all the explosions happened right behind the building and we couldn't see much. Oh well we know for next year now.All in all it was a really fun night and I really wish we have a 'New Zealand Day' but I will leave that rant for my next post.

I have a video of the fireworks but as my Parentals internet is a snail pedaling a hamster wheel youtube don't want to play along so stay tuned for it.

Stage in front of the Parliament building

Parliament Building with light display

Clock Tower

Parliament Hill

Camp Whitehorne: The Aqua Addition

The boys on White Lillie

So I met the Whitehorne's in the Bahamas as you may recall. The reason they where there was because they sailed there on their flagship vessel the 'White Lillie'. So for those playing at home you might realize we have this whole attempt to sail thing in common and as their attempts of sailing usually ends in actual results. They keep their yacht close to them at a place near Ottawa just of the St Lawrence River which in turn gives them access to the ICW. Jim spend the last few months getting their yacht ready to be put back into the water after wintering on land. So the day finally arrived that their flagship got put back into the water. To celebrate this event we were invited along with the rest of their family to a pre Canada Day BBQ and Firework celebration put on by the marina.

The women conversing with each other about wealth
or shoes, or the weather, and everyone's health

It was a really fun afternoon starting with drinks at the yacht. Where we played a game of  'Catch the Chair' as the wind kept blowing them into the water. After a good session of social lubrication we moved our celebration to the, well calling it a club house is a stretch of the word. However it was where the food was and if you know me if there is free food I'm there. After stuffing our faces with some really yummy burgers and Carole's sisters yummy salad we settled down for some more social lubricating.  Once the sun finally set and the mosquitoes came out to feed on us it was time for the highlight of the night the Fireworks. The Fireworks must have been about 15 meters away from us and it was freaking amazing especially when the big ones exploded and you could feel the sound wave and hear it travelling over the country side. I'm usually disappointed in fireworks but this was a pretty amazing and I was only disappointed when it ended. However all good things must come to an end and with the Fireworks ending we had to head home as the next day was Canada Day and Kim had work in the morning. But it was fun at the Aqua Addition of Camp Whitehorne and I can't wait to go sailing this summer on 'White Lillie'.

One side of the Marina.

I'm working on getting a video uploaded of the Fireworks but my internet is to bloody slow. So will post it separately on my Facebook Page. So keep an eye out for it but until then see ya later.

The People's Republic of Eugene Street ...

Vote for me .... I promise nothing!!

So those playing at home might have noticed me checking into a place called 'The People's Republic of Eugene Street', well its actually the street we live on. Me and Kim moved here after we left Camp Whitehorne. Not long after we got here we started noticing strange things. The first of these was that we are actually the only house addressed to the street yet we have 4 numbers in our house number. The second was that the city of Ottawa kept skipping our rubbish leading us to think that we are not actually part of the city. Which let me to declare our independence, we are still waiting on our UN Membership. Then when I googled our post code it turned out that it is only for our house. If you think some of this reminds you of Petoria then your right we all are Family Guy fans to the point where we want to annex our neighbours pool as ours and part of the Republic (To fully understand the pool thing you have watch that episode of Family Guy or go read this ). However our time in the little Republic is almost up to and then we have to move on again :(

Camp Whitehorne ...

As I have mentioned before we decided against settling in Montreal mostly due to the fact we can't speak French and being the province in Canada that's official Language is French it was a small problem for us in the job finding department. So we got a very kind offer from the Whitehorne's to come and stay with them in Ottawa. So we packed Freddie and of we went saying good bye to Montreal for the time being.  

For those playing at home I met the Whitehorne's in the Bahamas in February 2011 when me and Emma tagged along to watch Owen buy a stick , I mean a boat from so questionable people whose female should invest in a bra. 

Lake Whitehorne

Me and Kim fast learn there was rules at the Whitehorne's most of them involving wasting of alcohol actually all of them and failure to adhere to any of these rules resulted in your burial in the back yard. Hence why we started to call their base of operation Camp Whitehorne. Infact if you don't hear from me after this post go check their backyard by the compost heap :P ... Camp Whitehorne is about 30min east of Ottawa in a tiny village with about 6 houses funny enough most of its residents are French but luckily for us they are bilingual. Their property also backs onto a farm so you had uninterrupted views of nothing but farm land.

I think me and Kim ended up staying here for close to two months and in that time we probably gained about 20kg's each thanks to Carole's amazing cooking. However our time here had to end as we finally found a place we could rent for over the summer months. I know I can speak on behalf of Kim when I say words can't express how much it meant to us for them opening up their home and family to us and helping us settle into Ottawa.

They run a tight ship here at Camp Whitehorne

I was actually having a conversation with Carole's daughter the other day when I said I really miss Victoria, however it would be very hard for me to move there and leave Ottawa behind. Jim and Carole have really become like our adoptive Canadian Parents and their family feels like ours now. We love the fact that when there is a family gathering what ever it maybe mostly bonfires at Camp Whitehorne which I highly recommend. But when there is these events we get a Facebook message going 'you coming' or 'coming home soon'.

Me and Kim are still trying to work out a way to thank them but nothing seems to compare to what they have done for us. But until we figure that one out they can just be happy with our ugly mugs ... :)

Ville de Québec ...

Quebec City's skyline from the St Lawrence River

While we were still in Montreal me and Kim decided to head north for the day to go visit Quebec City or more correctly Ville de Québec the mother ship of French Canada. We were told that it is an amazing city and a must see but we were also told this about Montreal and I personally think Montreal is a shit hole. So we drove the 3 odd hours north in hope of something remotely interesting to make the drive worthwhile. When we arrived in Old Quebec City, oh my god what a pleasant surprise it really felt like we were in an actual French city in France. Quebec City can boast being the oldest City in the French America's and is amongst one of the oldest in North America . You can really feel the old world charm there and the fact that everything is in French just adds to it. We only really explored the old city so I can't really comment on what the rest of Quebec City outside of the walls look like but I would really put the old city on my 'Places to go visit again' list.

I must say Canada keeps blowing my mind  and I don't want to sound ignorant but the fact that they speak French in Canada is one of those things that keeps blowing my mind. Not sure why I never factored in the fact that there is French spoken here. I of all people must be more use to this fact, I was born in a "British Colony", South Africa and my mother tongue is Afrikaans not English so it's not any different here really.

Anyway getting back to Quebec City, while we were there we got more bang for our buck then we had expected with a University Student protest near their parliament buildings. The Government of Quebecistan wants to raise the students annual fee, Quebec has the cheapest Uni Fees in all of Canada and they took to the streets to keep it that way. We made ourselves comfortable across the street from the protest and just sat and watched. We couldn't understand a word of what was going on except that they were angry in French at some woman we guessed must have been the Educational Minister Lady Person. The police kept looking at us taking photos of the whole thing and after awhile we decided we should probably leave them to it.

After a long day of exploring the old city and watching protest we made our way back to smelly Montreal and to bed .

Here is some photo's for your viewing pleasure ...

St Patty's Day Montreal Style

While in Montreal we celebrated St Patty's Day this would be the first time that I would actual celebrate it more then just having a quiet drink at home. Me, Erin and Kim met up with one of the employees of Café Aléatoire and some of his mates and did the 20min walk to downtown Montreal to  Rue Sainte-Catherine where the St Paddy's Parade was to be held. We stopped of at a local corner store to pick up some beer yup they sell beer at their corner stores and yes I'm drinking beer now, well I still call it gumboot water.

I have to be honest here and say that the parade was the most bat ass boringest pile of dribble I have ever experienced in my life. If it wasn't for the company I was keeping I would probably not made it to the end as a matter of fact we didn't. Erin did provide us with some entertainment by threatening to beat the crap out of a group of 'Whoop Whoop Girls' standing near us. Also the people passing behind us was way more interesting then the parade itself, there is some very interesting creatures that reside in Montreal , QC.

We stayed and watched the parade for what seemed like hours and all that passed us was old men in funny looking outfits that must have passed as a uniform for some sort of society I really couldn't give two hoots about. At some point we decided we had enough and joined a number of other festive going people on a side street and proceeded to get more drunk then we already were.

Erin in her very socially lubricated state of mind started eating Doritos next to a camera operator interviewing people (the camera op looked like a very angry lesbot) and from memory they attempted to interview Erin but she just kept eating. More fun however sprung up when the police on their ponies came up the street to get the people of it so they could re-open the street for cars. Lucky for us we had the Safety Fair with us and no one got run over thanks to her. Mind you I think a few people wanted to run her over. Well I must say I really do look forward to my next St Paddy's day where ever that may be.

Below is a Video of the Safety Fairy in action and some pics ....

Boring Parade

Boring Parade

Boring Parade

Erin eating Doritos

The Crew

The Crew

The Crew

The Crew

The Crew