The kindness of Kiwis

It quickly became evident that the kiwis are some of the nicest people in the world. My trip to New Zealand was only a month long, not nearly enough time to digest the culture. To compensate, I decided to do a bit of couch surfing, whch is a great program for travelers who would rather meet locals and hear first hand what a country has to offer, instead of staying in a hostel. As a bonus, most people allow you to crash on their couch or spare bed in exchange for some company, homecooked dinner, or a bottle of wine. When a couch surfer is not traveling, they likewise offer their couch or spare bed to travelers. A genius idea really. It is quite safe as well. Bad things have happened, but it is quite rare.

I had a host lined up in Christchurch a week before I showed up, but work obligations left me with no place to stay only 36 hours before flying out. Thankfully, a young musician named Sophie agreed to host me on short notice. She even agreed to pick me up at the airport for my 10PM arrival. Only, there was delay. I had a first hand view for this little doosie. The airline loaded some frieght that they were not authorized to carry. Of course, this unauthorized frieght was the first thing to get loaded onto the plane, so they had to unload the entire cargo bay of the plane, then reload. My flight was delayed by 90 minutes, arrived at the same time as another flight, clogging up customs. By the time I popped through the doors, it was just after midnight. Sophie was still there, smiling. She didn't complain once, even though she worked the next day at seven in morning.

I toured Christchurch the next day, but constant rain maed me ditch my touring efforts. After I finished with all the art galleries I could find (I saw a great show on Rita Angus, a great New Zealand artist whose style I recognized from other galleries) , I decided to hunt down my car rental company, so I could learn its location a day early and confirm my reservation. After talking to the agent, he looked at me and said, "you just wanna take it now, bro?"

"How much extra would that be?"

"Well, nobody really needs it, so just take it for free."

So, I drove out of there in my car a day early. I headed to the coast for a lovely hike (it wasn't as rainy there). While hiking, I bumped into a man and had a chat. We talked until the hike's finish, then he offered to drive me a mile to an old WWII military unit. He gave me a tour, then offered to drive me back to my car, so I didn't have to walk in the rain. I accepted his offer; it was only a couple of miles anyway. The thing was though, it was a couple of miles by foot! The drive was over half an hour because of the layout of the roads through the hill. Again, no complaints, just smiles.

That was only day one. Snowstorms prevented me from sticking to my original plans of hitting Mt. Cook on day two, so I quickly ammended my plan, and at Sophie suggestion, I headed to the north tip of the island instead. Conveinently, her parents John and Carolyne lived there in Takaka. They took me in, gave me dinner, two desserts, breakfast the next morning, and even insisted I stop in for lunch on my way back through town. They also called some friends down the road in Westport and hooked me up with a bed for the next night.

So I found myself the next day in Westport, enjoying some beers and a lovely meal with Stratty and Debbie. I enjoyed a warm bed for the night in the house of people two degrees removed from a complete stranger I met online only three days earlier.

The next night, I stayed with Sophie's cousin Stephen in Greymouth. He lived in a college dormitory; I slept on a lounge couch. Still, it was a place to sleep! So, in my first five nights, I didn't pay for accomadation once, met many wonderful people, and really started getting a feel for Kiwi culture. So far, it is proving to be very similar to Australia, at least in the niceness, trust, and coolness departments.