Hello friends. The constraint of time is the main reason I am writing my third post in a detailed manner. As much as possible, I am trying to write the memories I remember in Tamil. This gives me a kind of yogic experience. My thanks to your patience from this writing yogi.
A flat and straight path from Timaru to Christchurch. My daughter frequently asked the question "When will Christchurch come?", and in response to that question, I kept driving while saying "If you drive, it will come."
As we approached Christchurch, the noisy metal road turned into a quiet asphalt road. When traveling, I usually notice the reception of the place I go to. Some Christchurch roads had highway exits first, followed by local exits. It was sunset time. In the far distance, mountains could be seen. This was different from the sights we see elsewhere in New Zealand. Because Christchurch city is built on the Canterbury Plains, it is very flat.
Sea to the east, mountains to the west, and Christchurch urban area wherever else you go. I thought we could park the car somewhere and look for accommodation. I searched on Google Maps, found a nearby KFC, and chose it as our stop. "Sara, are we going to eat?" she asked. When she saw me looking for accommodation, she curled up and lay down like a snail again. In a few minutes, I chose a guest house. As soon as I said "I found a house," Sara became very excited. She expected this choice to be somewhat different. Similarly, she saw a special feature of the house through photos.
The two of us who went west traveled towards the east. For Sara, who lived in Dunedin for the last eighteen months, Christchurch was a big change. In the wide-spreading town, local roads felt like highways. Our first impression of both of us was a city with a decentralized, low-density suburban structure. In all areas, we could see a park. When I asked Sara, she shared her view. Our views were almost identical.
We finally reached the house located in New Brighton, close to the eastern sea (Pacific). Our room was on the upper floor of the house. We planned to check out the room first and then carry the luggage upstairs. Sara, who was holding the video recording device in her hand, forgot to turn it on in her excitement to see the room. The house owner and his family were not at home. He had given us all the information about the house via text message. Sara opened the door and slowly went to the upstairs room to look around. Meanwhile, from the shoes at the entrance of the house, I inferred the people who were at home. We had a room for ourselves, with an attached bathroom. Sara opened all the curtains. She called her mother and told her everything she saw.
She reminded me of the special feature of the house just as I was thinking of bringing the bags in and taking a little rest. "Okay, let's look at it," I said, and as we went outside, another lodger entered the house. Taking his beer and snacks, he went to his room on the lower floor and shut the door. In the meantime, the two of us exchanged a smile. He looked like a Malaysian Tamil. I correctly inferred this from his hair and its color.
A separate door to go to the back of the house. She opened it. There, a Siberian Husky was walking quietly, unleashed. It seemed to understand that the two of us were new guests. The two of us slowly went to it and got acquainted. Then we went near that special feature, unlocked it, and looked. With a faint smell of chlorine, it was a wonderful hot water swimming pool (hot tub).
I heard voices as if someone was talking outside the house. When I went out to look, two people of Asian descent were struggling to park a trailer loaded with goods inside the house. I went and helped slightly with parking. One of them was the house owner's sister and her partner. The partner's appearance had an ambiguous gender. Before the woman could finish saying "The owner's family will be here in a little while," their family arrived. The Euro-Asian couple Wayne and Esther, and their young son and daughter. I solved the equation of the number of shoes I saw earlier.
Upstairs, near our room, was an open kitchen. In the fully-equipped kitchen, there was a giant refrigerator. In the refrigerator, which was full of items, a section had about one liter of milk kept for guests. There was Moccona coffee powder, and KitKat instant coffee powder left behind by previous guests.
The lodger staying on the ground floor was describing his resume to Esther while cooking at the same time. Wayne was busily washing dishes. As he washed dishes, I chatted with him for a little while. He said he had been involved in seismic research in Christchurch for several years. He also said he worked on the consulting job of reassessing house valuations after the devastating 2011 earthquake. In between, our other guest asked, "How can you call this town Christchurch when the ruined church has not been rebuilt?" To that, Wayne smiled slightly.
Sara and I cooked the instant noodles we brought, ate, and slept.
