I decided on YHA Christchurch Rolleston House because I saw on the internet that Intercity had a stop on Rolleston Avenue. To my great surprise, that was on the net but not on reality. But to my greater surprise, my Intercity ended the journey on Armagh Street where there was only a bus shelter and a taxi driver. Thinking that Christchurch was a big city, I expected I would get off at a bus terminal, not just a bus shelter. I expected there would be an i-Site or any information desk alike where I could ask for direction. Having experiencing the other cities, I took it too easy with Christchurch. Yeah, again thinking it was a big city.
Fine. It has been ten days and I have never taken a taxi. Maybe now is the time to spend some money on a taxi. So did I speak to myself.
I walked to the taxi driver. In an instant, the way he looked at me made me feel uneasy. Hesitantly I gave him the address.
"YHA! That's near. Just walk straight there."
"Straight, and then?"
"Just straight."
"Will YHA be on the left or on the right?"
"Just straight. You'll see it."
"Okay, thank you!"
My opinion on this non-Caucasian-looking guy changed. How honest, I thought. In some other places, the taxi driver would just go round and round pretending the destination is far away.
"But!" I turned back to him after a few steps. "This is the YHA on Rolleston Avenue."
"Yes, yes. Rolleston. Just go straight."
I walked and walked, but neither on the left nor on the right seemed like a place where people can have a sleep. To my even greater surprise, the city seemed incredibly quiet. It was dark already. But it was still 6:45 PM. A city??
I checked the GPS on my smartphone. The line didn't go "just straight". O, ow. I made a turn to the right following my GPS, and walked, and walked. It didn't seem "it's near!". O, ow. Who's correct? My GPS or that taxi driver?? I turned back, and walked.
One guy whom I asked for direction to Rolleston Avenue, simply shook his head and walked away. Another guy said, "No idea." One lady said, "I think it's over there." She thinks.
Maybe I should go back to the bus shelter, wait for another taxi, or another person. Logically, chances to meet someone at a bus shelter is higher. So did I suggested myself.
This was the moment when I missed the previous country I had traveled to for 3 vacations in a row. It was a country where the world thinks is filled with unreligioned people ruled by a ruthless president. No one has ever suggested me travel to that country -- how unlike New Zealand! -- and people constantly ask me if I was okay in that country. As a matter of fact, I have traveled that country, the largest country in the world, from East to West, did get lost a couple of times, but nothing like this here, in Christchurch, ever happened to me. Christchurch! Listen! Doesn't that sound religious enough?
A man in suits parked his car and got off. He must have forgot something in his office, I assumed.
No! He walked towards me!
"Are you lost?"
"Yeees... I am."
"Where are you going to?"
"YHA Rolleston Avenue."
"Do you have the address?"
"Yes, I do." I gave him my piece of paper.
"Oh okay. So it's two blocks away from here, and then turn to the right... "
"You mean, I turn right at the second crossroad?"
"I'll walk you there!"
"Really?? You just give me the direction."
"Never mind. It's not too far anyway. Let me take your suitcase for you."
"So sorry to bother you."
"It's alright. I saw you just now. You looked confused. And then after I turned around, I saw you were still here. So I thought maybe you were lost."
The distance to YHA wasn't that near after all that we could make a rather long conversation on the road. He asked me how I could be here. I told him about Intercity, the taxi driver, and about my GPS.
Apparently the biggest answer to most of my questions about Christchurch was, or is, earthquake. After the earthquake, bus stop locations have changed, GPS maps haven't been updated, people have moved out of Christchurch, and so on. About the taxi driver,
"He didn't want to take you??" this gentleman asked.
"No, he didn't. He said, it's just nearby."
"He should have taken you and charged 5 dollars."
"I wouldn't mind to pay 5 dollars. But he said nothing about the fare."
"Maybe he was expecting passengers heading to the airport."
"Oh! I thought he was just being honest."
"Could be also."
[A few days later I was told that it's actually against the law for a taxi driver to refuse a guest.]
We turned to Worcester Boulevard. He said that my hostel should be by the corner near the museum. But before leaving me, he'll make sure the numbers of the houses shows that I'm heading to the right direction, he told me.
"Thirty five... thirty three... thirty one ... yes, then it's right. You see that museum over there?"
"That big building facing here?"
"Exactly. Your hostel should be just across that museum."
"Thank you so much, Sir. I really can't thank you enough for this." I bowed down in front of him the Japanese way, the very most thing I could appreciate his gentleness with. "God bless you."
"Remember, don't cross the street. Your hostel is on this side."
"Yes, I will."
#####
At the hostel.
"Wow! You are lucky! I would have think twice," said the lady staff.
"Really?? Is it not safe here?"
"Well... it is. But since it's dark already, being a woman alone ... bla, bla, bla."
"Yeah... I think I was lucky. He was such a gentleman. He even carried my suitcase for me."
"He did??"
[Actually, now I'm thinking. What if he ran away with my suitcase? But.. but... he parked his car and walked with me. If he had bad intentions, it would have been more convenient to offer me a ride to the hostel. The fact that he left his car behind was actually the act of showing safety.]
"He didn't walk me up to here. He left me several houses away after making sure I was going to the right direction."
"He didn't walk me up to here. He left me several houses away after making sure I was going to the right direction."
"He didn't follow you here??"
"Nooo... he didn't ... " I thought he did that to make me not feel too much uneasy having him walk me all the way through.
"Then he must be a gentleman," said the lady staff into conclusion.
"Of course he is!!"
#####
Dear Gentleman from Christchurch on the night of July 21st 2015,
In case by any chance this post finds its way to you, I would like to tell you again how much I appreciate you walking me to Worcester Boulevard in that rather eery quiet Christchurch. May God pay you back multiple times. I have nothing to give you -- and I know you are not expecting it either -- but I will always remember you. God bless you, Sir. Amen.
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