Funny kind of day really. Bill and Sue leave for Australia at 1pm and we leave for Auckland and Hong Kong at 5pm. As I mentioned before Christchurch has lost its heart so there really isn't much going on. However we had a late breakfast then went across the road to the Botanical Gardens. These Kiwi gardeners know how to grow roses and they don't seem to suffer from any bugs and smell delightful. Yes I know it's nearly Christmas and I am smelling the roses. There was a strong wind in the morning and it was chilly. We soon found the park coffee shop. The park by the way is approximately the same size as the city centre so has lots of sports as well as nice gardens. Went back to the hotel to see Bill and Sue off and after lunch Pete and I went on one of our walks. Decided to go and find the RC Cathedral. We did eventually but it too was a quake victim. By now the wind had dropped and it was hot so we stopped for a cuppa before going to the airport.
1st flight Christchurch to Auckland just over an hour. Then we had to walk our bags across to the international terminal as they couldn't book them straight through for some reason. This was a 10/15min walk outside. Anyway we boarded the Hong Kong flight at midnight and off we go for 12 hrs of sleepless discomfort.