Day 1 was spent literally tens of thousands of feet in the air with a brief transit in Singapore. We reached Christchurch at about 9 am on Day 2. At Immigration, we were sniffed by a black dog and its handler. (The dog did all the sniffing.)
Glen (the Kiwi Coach Manager who drove the coach and handled our baggage) picked us up and away we went for the customary city tour. Christchurch was a quiet place. Buildings damaged by the earthquake stood its ground. Our coach drove us around the Christchurch Cathedral to view the damages it had suffered. The transitional pro-cathedral Cardboard Cathedral was something of a sensation. Fancy worshiping under a cardboard.
CASHMERE HILL
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Maori designs carved in jade are steeped in religious and spiritual belief. It was believed by Maori that as a pounamu carving was worn against the skin it absorbed some of that persons essence.
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The sun was setting by the time we left the Canterbury Museum. It was time to check in at Ibis Hotel for The Room Key Saga.
At the hotel lobby, we stood around Mr Beady-Eyes as he peered from the top of his spectacles first at a piece of paper he held in one hand, then at the bunch of room keys he held in the other hand, back again to the piece of paper held in the one hand, before slowly calling out carefully the names assigned to the room key in his hand. (I might add, at this point that The Room Key Saga is not always in this order. Sometimes, he peered from the top of his spectacles at the room keys first.)
Those who have collected their keys were asked to remain at the lobby for his subsequent announcement. After all the room keys were distributed, he gathered all of us for the announcement. We were given clearance to enter our rooms, rest for something like 45 minutes and then gather at the lobby at precisely 6.45 pm because dinner was scheduled at 7 pm. Mr Beady-Eyes spoke at length about the importance of time in a group tour, about punctuality, since all items in the itinerary are scheduled in accordance to strict time management, or something to that effect.
Thus each of us left for our various rooms exhausted from the day's travel.
At 6.45 pm, we gathered at the lobby as instructed. The group was getting hungry and restless because Mr Beady-Eyes had not made an appearance. A hungry man is an angry man who became angrier 15 minutes later at 7 pm when the man who spoke at length about punctuality did not appear.
Cindy (our Group Representative) called his room. No answer. She called his cell phone. No answer. Finally, they went up to his room to bang on his door. A bewildered face, still groggy from sleep answered the door. Mr Beady-Eyes had overslept.
At the hotel lobby, we stood around Mr Beady-Eyes as he peered from the top of his spectacles first at a piece of paper he held in one hand, then at the bunch of room keys he held in the other hand, back again to the piece of paper held in the one hand, before slowly calling out carefully the names assigned to the room key in his hand. (I might add, at this point that The Room Key Saga is not always in this order. Sometimes, he peered from the top of his spectacles at the room keys first.)
Those who have collected their keys were asked to remain at the lobby for his subsequent announcement. After all the room keys were distributed, he gathered all of us for the announcement. We were given clearance to enter our rooms, rest for something like 45 minutes and then gather at the lobby at precisely 6.45 pm because dinner was scheduled at 7 pm. Mr Beady-Eyes spoke at length about the importance of time in a group tour, about punctuality, since all items in the itinerary are scheduled in accordance to strict time management, or something to that effect.
Thus each of us left for our various rooms exhausted from the day's travel.
At 6.45 pm, we gathered at the lobby as instructed. The group was getting hungry and restless because Mr Beady-Eyes had not made an appearance. A hungry man is an angry man who became angrier 15 minutes later at 7 pm when the man who spoke at length about punctuality did not appear.
Cindy (our Group Representative) called his room. No answer. She called his cell phone. No answer. Finally, they went up to his room to bang on his door. A bewildered face, still groggy from sleep answered the door. Mr Beady-Eyes had overslept.
The kumara (sweet potato) does not speak of its own sweetness .....Maori proverb
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