My Night in Jail

After leaving Picton first thing in the morning, I was back on the road again pointing towards Christchurch. Immediately, I noticed how much flatter the roads were. No more hairpin switchback turns or continual uphill and downhill roads, there were long stretches of straight road, almost as far as the eye could see. The road tended to mostly follow the coast, and made for a nice drive, having Ocean on my left and Mountains on my right. Quite a diverse change of scenery and landscape followed, from tree filled rocky mountains similar to Jasper, to rounder, dry and dusty Mountains similar to the area around Kamloops.

Before I knew it, I was in Christchurch. It kind of sneaks up on you, not seeming like a big city at all. Once I got into the downtown area, I was surprised to find not a lot of really tall buildings either. It reminds me somewhat of Victoria. Lots of old buildings, churches, museums, all done with intricate stonework.

Now that I was here, I had to find a place to stay, and booked myself into 'Jailhouse Accommodation' for the night. A really unique place to stay, it is an old jailhouse that was built way back in 1874. It has been used as a jail for long term offenders, a remand centre, a women's prison, and a military camp before being bought and renovated into a hostel. Once there and having a look, it is a really interesting place to stay. All the original bars and steel doors are still in place, and they have even kept one cell in it's original form to go have a look. Outside, the walls still partially surround the jail. Overall, oddly as it sounds, the nicest place I've stayed since I got to New Zealand, has been in jail.