I arrived in Christchurch a few days ago, and my first order of business was to buy a car. I will hopefully be in this country for about 7 months, and I know I will be able to get around so much better with my own mode of transportation. So, the search began.

There were actually quite a few travellers trying to sell their cars in Christchurch. I looked around on the different hostel and internet notice boards, and found a bunch of different cars being sold fairly cheaply. So, finding a cheap car wasn't going to be a problem; finding a cheap, reliable car that I knew would run for around 7 months was going to be more difficult. Really, I don't know much at all about cars, and actually have never embarked on buying a car by myself with no outside help. So, I was a little nervous, but excited that soon I would have my very own car to explore New Zealand.

I test drove one car the second day I was here, and it seemed to run pretty well, but I thought I would check out some more cars the next day. While talking in the hostel that night, a guy suggested heading over to another hostel, because the owner fixes up cars and sells them to backpackers. So, myself and Nikki, another girl I had just met at our hostel, decided to head over.

Antony, the owner of the hostel, showed me the only car he had in my price range, which was an older Toyota Celica. I was impressed right away with the Tasmanian Devil seat covers. Of course, there are more things to worry about in a car than seat covers, so I also gave it a test drive. I enjoyed riding around in it, and by the next day, I was the proud owner of a grey Toyota Celica. In order to celebrate, I bought a bobble head sheep to sit on the dash and keep me company. Now all I need is a name for the car, and I will be all set! I hate driving in cities, so I have yet to drive far with my new vehicle. I plan on leaving Christchurch tomorow however, and look forward to testing her out on the open road.