Well I arrived safe and sound in 'New Zealand' today (Tuesday). We took a flight from 'Cairns' to 'Auckland' on the North Island and then flew down from 'Auckland' to 'Christchurch' on the South Island. We only had a slight delay on the domestic leg between "Auckland' and 'Christchurch' but apart from that the flights went well. Well it is fair to say that 'New Zealand' is bloody cold!!! It is about 5C-8C during the day and about 2C at night. A bit of a change from the balmy winter we experienced in 'Cairns'!! On Tuesday we took the airport shuttle ($7 each) to our hostel. We are staying at "Foley Towers" which is on "Kilmore Street" and about 10mins walk from the centre of town. It is a really nice hostel and we have landed ourselves a 3 single bed room for $22 a night each. There is also a really good kitchen and lounge area. We arrived at the hostel in the evening so dumped our stuff and then wandered into town to try and find some dinner. It is quite easy to get around the city as they have lots of English named roads that seem to run on a grid system. We then hit the sack by midnight. Wednesday - Today the greatest priority was shopping. We needed to buy a coat, hat, scarf and gloves as we arrived in 'New Zealand' with 3 jumpers between us!! So that is what we did all morning and afternoon. Then we went for a bite to eat at the "Asian Food Court" before heading to the pub - "The Holy Grail" to watch the Lions rugby tour match against 'Wellington' on the big screen. It was really busy and had such a great atmosphere. There are so many Lions supporters out here for the tour, and they are so well behaved. We then headed back to "Foley Towers" as Annie and Neeley were feeling a bit knackered - they had a few heavy nights in 'Cairns' before we left so were feeling the pace! Thursday - Today Annie and I left at lunchtime to do a sightseeing tour of the city, leaving Neeley in bed! We started our tour at "Cathedral Square". The focal point of the "Square" is "Christchurch Cathedral" itself. Also in the "Square" is a large silver and blue "Chalice" which represents the Millennium and the 150th anniversary of the founding of 'Christchurch', a statue of a Maori man and also lots of little market stalls/vans. We then left the square along"Worcester Boulevard" and crossed the "Avon River" at the "Remembrance Bridge". We then followed the river along "Cambridge Terrace" until we reached the turning for the white timber gothic style church of "St Michael". Next up we continued along "Cambridge Terrace" until reaching The "Antigua Street Boatsheds", which are the only ones left of the few that stood on the banks of the "River Avon". From the boatsheds we walked along "Rolleston Avenue" with the "Botanic Gardens" on our left, we made a slight detour through some of the gardens and spotted a very strange looking sculpture beside the river - it turned out to be of two wrestlers, but looked completely different from our angle?! Next up we passed the very Gothic style "Arts Centre" and the "Canterbury Museum". We then had a break for lunch at a bagel house before continuing on the tour of the city centre. We walked across the river again through to the new "Art Gallery", "North Hagley Park" and "Cramner Square" before heading on for the last part of the walk. We went up "Oxford Terrace" to look at a row of Victorian houses before going back to "Cathedral Square" to meet Neeley. In the evening Annie and I went to see "Batman Begins" at the cinema - it was a really good film, much darker and more entertaining than the previous films!! Friday - Today we all leave 'Christchurch', Neeley and I in our car and Annie on the Kiwi Expreience.