Urgent Update:

As we sit here in jail it is kind of hard to reflect on the beauty of New Zealand that we have witnessed over the past two weeks...because we are in jail. We are literally in a jail turned hostel that was built in 1874. After a whole 5 dollar restoration, the modern amenities include a skittles machine, book exchange, telephone booth, jail-house manikins, and the original furniture from the jail; including the bed, linens, and original doors. We were escorted to our room "cell" 3, where they unlocked the 100 pound steel door equipped with a dead bolt, so we could see our 8 by 4 by 9 foot room with a 10 inch by 10 inch window, all white washed for our comfort. Even though this sounds like an insane asylum, this is a widely popular hostel for sickos and people who decides it's a good idea to travel to this part of Christchurch, which is far to similar to East Baltimore. We were hungry and decided it was time for lunch so we strolled past the local tire "tyre" shop, Dig a Ta too, the local cafe for rock eaters which has the inside of Happy Wok, buts sell fish and chips and burgers. We walked into the recommended spot for lunch, which was a smoke infested bar, ordered our fish and chips, paid, and within 3 minutes-we canceled our order, took our money back, and slowly strolled out with a smile on our face. Thank god. There was one girl working that had to have been named Urcella, who flipped the switch to fire up the grill and flash fryer that couldn't have been legally allowed to cook on since the 60's. We were outta there. We passed the local Afghan Kebab Shop, a coffee shop without coffee, 14 engine shops, and too many half Chinese restaurants that only served Mexican food. Finally, as we were dying of hunger, we saw Subway, and figured that had to be somewhat normal since the knock off 711 owner told us they make great subs... We got to Subway, which smelt like the inside of an animal shelter, just in time for the fresh roast beef and salami, which were both green. Veggie subs were ordered, we would skip dinner, and we were back at jail for some more planning for our next week in Australia.

Three hours passed while we sipped our wonderful leftover Riesling from Chard Farm in order to hold onto the beauty of this country. It was somewhat different than enjoying it at the vineyard since now we were sipping from jail stripped coffee cups, while watching many characters including but not limited to; The Hells Angels, Granpa Joe wearing high white socks with Tevas, wanna be Lance who biked through the lobby and halls, all come through the Jailhouse Accommodation. Currently we are sitting watching a 40 year old Mexican man watch Kill Bill, while the girl behind us is watching BET videos on her lap top, on loud. Since there is nothing edible for dinner in the area, and our bike trip is in 7 days, we decided this would be a good time to start fasting. Also, if you are an employee here you wear a name tag saying "In Mate: (insert name)", and an orange shirt saying "I did my time", which are also for sale in the lobby if anyone wants one. So, we have done our time, now get us the hell out of Christchurch. (our update about the rest of our amazing trip throughout NZ will be posted once Inmate Peter agrees to give us more INTERNET) Godspeed Mates, and sorry for any bad writing or typos- we are writing from a desktop computer used during the early 80s!