Day 6 Christchurch, New Zealand It's my 21st birthday!And I'm 12,000 miles from home, in Christchurch New Zealand!…leaving for Bendigo in eight hours at 4am. This morning we got up at 7am in our one room cabin and drove to Dolphin Encounter - the place where you swim with the dolphins. We ate breakfast at the Dolphin Encounter café and started worrying after being told that the swells were pretty high and that the dolphin tour could possibly get cancelled d...

Day 5 Kaikoura, New Zealand We made the two hour-ish journey from Christchurch to Kaikoura via rental car. This small coastal town is more touristy than Christchurch, by the prices anyway. The weather was a little chilly, but we're on the coast so it's expected. We spent the rest of the day downtown looking at the shops, having fish 'n chips at a bar for lunch.After doing the downtown gig we drove up the peninsula and saw that a sheep farm was doing a live sha...

Day 4 Christchurch, New Zealand This morning we got to sleep in, yes!After Easter service at the Cathedral, mom decided that we would celebrate my birthday today because tomorrow and Tuesday (my real birthday) we will busy traveling and swimming with the dolphins. Due to the difficultness of bringing presents, mom had everyone write me birthday cards so I would have something to open. It was so much fun opening the cards. Being 12,000 miles away, my family and...

Day 3 Christchurch, New Zealand Wakeup was at 7am this morning. We had brekky at Element, the restaurant connected to the hotel. Aunt Christine and I had the French toast, and this was no ordinary French toast. Well for $15, it better be special. Most of the food we've gotten here is dressed up and presented in a very fancy show. Three narrow strips of bread stacked on top of one another, with two half pieces of banana that have been grilled, with two folded p...

Day 2 Christchurch, New Zealand This morning we got up at 6:30am and had brekky at Maccers. Next door in a giant green building, which used to be a meat or diary plant, is the headquarters for Wildwest Adventure - the river rafting tubing activity. We were also with an older couple from Britain who have lived in Christchurch for the past 3 years, and this Japanese kid who didn't speak English very well. He's been studying here for the past 10 months and is at ...