We had a long lie in and got up late. We discovered a guitar under door number 19 of our advent calendar. We just chilled out for what was left of the morning. Later on with the sun blazing down we went to the beach which was only a couple of minutes walk away. It was a lovely and very typical New Zealand beach as it was strewn with washed up timber as far as the eye could see. We really enjoyed our walk hand in hand along the sand and beside the lapping waves. O...

We awoke to a gorgeous sunny morning. Under door number 18 of our advent calendar was a bell. After brekky we decided to go and have a ride on the Christchurch Gondola which was about a fifteen minute drive away from the camp site in the Port Hills. The area around the camp site and the suburbs around the Port Hills were very badly affected by the earthquakes and the roads were in a bad condition. We saw on the way there many houses which have had to be abandoned...

We had a lie in and got up late. Under door number 17 of our advent calendar we were absolutely thrilled to find a really cute pig wearing a christmas hat. After brekky, and with the rain hammering down, we had a drive through the suburbs to find The Palms Shopping Mall where there was a cinema. This was the perfect thing to do on a very wet day. For ages we have been looking forward to seeing the 'Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa' movie. It had just been released in N...

We awoke to open day 16 on our advent calendar. Today we discovered a christmas pair of socks. After brekky we hit the road towards Christchurch, New Zealand's second biggest city and the biggest city on the south island. The road was very winding again making it's way south through more tunnels and around multiple twists and turns. Our journey was accompanied by the usual aggression, dangerous overtaking and bad driving. The Kiwis just point the car, put their f...

We awoke to another beautiful warm day and opened door 15 on our advent calendar. To our delight we found a really cute mouse wearing a christmas hat and carrying a big candle. After brekky we went to say goodbye to all the gorgeous friendly animals. We saw the happy lambs first followed by the rabbit and guinea pigs before popping over to see Molly the pig who was awake and not snoring today. She was outside in her pen grunting away and appeared in fine fettle. ...