How I spent a night in jail

This story begins in a little town called Greymouth, the largest on the west coast of the south island.  The city's metro population is 10,000, which should give you an idea of how sparsly the west coast is populated..  which is no wonder really, given how much rain they get here (200+ days a year).  There isn't really much here, aside from the Monteith's beer brewery, which the locals are very proud of.  I arrived into town at about 6pm and promptly booked a tour of the brewery, after checking into the extremely cool Noah's Ark hostel...  probably one of my favourite hostels so far!

The tour was very informative; the beer making process was explained to me (and 2 others - from Chicago) very thoroughly.  I don't really remember any of it, except that magnets and magic are involved and that the beer samples were delicious.  After the 7 samples (one of each kind of beer the company brews, plus a cider) we got to have a pint of our favourite beer..  (I got 2, because I'm Polish).  The tour comes with a meal, which you have at your choice of 3 restaurants - which was also very good by the way.  All that for just $30!  Pretty good deal if you ask me.

On the next day I had a tranzalpine train booked (across the alps, to Christchurch), which is supposed to be one of the world's best train rides.  Somehow I was able to get a $50 discount on the fare too..  possibly due to low demand?  I'm not sure..  Either way it was pretty damn scenic!

The train ride takes about 4 hours and takes you through Arthur's pass, which is only one of three ways to get from the west coast to the east.  The cars on the train have large windows, for your viewing pleasure, as well as two "observation cars", for picture taking.  The observation cars (they weren't called that..  but the name they used escapes me at the moment) don't have any windows..  Which is great for picture taking..  the only downside being that there are a LOT of tunnels on the ride..  which means that each time you go through a tunnel - a bunch of smoke makes it into your face..  and camera..  it's not really that bad, but it gets annoying when it happens every couple minutes.

I got into Christchurch at around 6pm.  Christchurch is a town similar in size to London, Ontario..  Just a bit smaller, maybe.  The main difference seems to be that their downtown is actually pretty damn cool!  The main town square is dominated by a cathedral and college, with parks nearby as well.  There is a tram that only seems to serve downtown, which adds something or other to the feel of the place.  All in all the downtown area seems very stylish and welcoming. 

So, about that jail.  The hostel I checked into in Christchurch used to be an old jail!

It also happens to be one of the only hostels close to the rail station (about a 30 minute walk from downtown), so it appealed to me for that reason as well..  It was a bit eerie in there at first..  the door to your room is thick and heavy, and when you lock it you totally get that "whoa, i'm in OZ" feeling.  They left one cell untouched; it has interesting scribblings and drawings from an inmate..  all in all a very cool place to spend a night!  Not very close to downtown, but what's a half an hour walk?

Next morning I jumped on a tranzcoastal scenic train to Kaikoura, home of whales, dolphins, and seals..  which is where I am right now!  I was going to go whale watching, but you need to go on a boat to do that..  and then you apparently only see the tail..  so forget that!  There is a 4 hour long trail in the area that is supposed to be quite amazing.  Lonely Planet has it listed as one of the 10 things you should see when you're on the south island..  so I'm going to check it out!  Tomorrow I am hopefully headed towards Abel Tasman National Park.  And now..  I must go eat lunch!