Christchurch Night Life

Today was spent sleeping....a lot! Back in McMurdo, even on my days off when it was possible to sleep in, something always managed to wake me up: my pager with some non-important asinine message, a forked loader emptying a dumpster, a fuel truck fueling a boiler tank, my roommate getting dressed, etc. It was nice being in a pitch black room, in a comfortable bed sleeping for 10 hours straight. I woke up, took an absurdly long shower (no water restrictions in New Zealand, no sir!), then took a walk around the city. Considering today is Friday, I took a shuttle to the Clothing Distribution Center near the airport to send some things back home and pick up my climbing gear I sent from the ice via Scott Base (thanks Shaz!). I met up with a lot of other people from the ice and we attempted to make plans for the night.

Not having a cell phone and not knowing where people were staying, that proved pretty difficult if not outright futile to stick to plans we made. I ended up running into a few firefighters that were calling it a night. Being only 11 PM I continued to push on since I had slept in till about noon today. Friday nights in Christchurch, surprisingly, are dead. The bars weren't as packed as they could be. I left one bar after the last of the firefighters I had been hanging out left to walk to another one that became a favorite of mine from last season.

While walking the semi-empty streets (it's now about 3 AM) I witnessed this one guy step (more like a alchol-induced stumble) into the street only to nearly get hit by a taxi cab. Luckily he missed because I grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him on to the sidewalk. In a heavy thickly-slurred Kiwi accent he exclaimed, "Mate, you saved me life!" Being modest and half-drunk myself I tried to debunk these outrageous claims so I could continue on my way. He grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me in the eye and said, "No, you seriously saved me life! I'm in your debt!" Before I could explain how I just kept him from getting hit by a cab driving 20 mph, he explained to me how he was a leader in a notorious New Zealand gang known as the Nomads, how people had tried to kill him in the past, blah, blah, blah, but how no one had ever tried to save his life before. After a story like that, I guess it wouldn't be too egotistical or selfish to agree with how much what I had did meant to him. At this point, two words that get hammered into firefighters minds on a regular basis started to float around in my head: Situation Awareness or SA. The man had a lot of tattoos...I meana lot...of the urban/gang persuasion as well. He also was ripped. The type of guy that could slap a person into unconsciousness. At that point, I also realized that as drunk and as muscular as he was I highly he doubt he'd notice or even remember if he were to get hit by a car. These thoughts, however, flew out the door when my SA came back as he pulled out his camera phone, took a picture of me, and started writing a dictionary long text message to someone. "I'm sending your picture to all me mates. You'll have safe passage no matter where you travel". Great, I'm now affiliated with a nationally (and maybe internationally) known gang. I prayed that he was too drunk to successfully send my picture to anyone. Anyways, he, too, was heading to the Stock Exchange (the bar I was heading to where the drink prices fluctuate much like...a stock exchange) and he insisted to by me a drink. Thinking it would be easier to get away from him if I just let him by me a drink or two, I obliged and walked with him. Once in the bar with a drink in front of me, he saw two lady friends of his and went to talk to them...after which I never saw him again. I hope he turns his life around somehow. He seemed like a good guy...when he wasn't doing...whatever gangs do in New Zealand. I finished my drink, talked to a local girl about Rugby and Cricket, then left to enjoy the sunrise over Christchurch before heading to sleep. It's amazing what happens when you stay up past 3 AM....