Christchurch

Monday 30th June

After dropping the campervan off we had a look to see how much the Antarctic centre was for later in the week before catching the city flyer back into town. Once there we had a little look around and pick a few leaflets up from the i-site. We then found our way back to the hotel and started some washing and watched some movies on the huge flat screen TV. The hotel that we stayed in was the Hotel SO and it's SO cool, the rooms have this modest size quarter circle glass bathroom area in the corner with the toilet and nice showers in. They have mood lighting with blue, red, green lights and other colours. The alarm clock wakes you up with the sunlight over the bed which really works and there is a HUGE flat screen telly.

Tuesday 1st July (start of our 5 month away)

We spent a little bit of Tuesday morning in the hotel gym before heading out for a bit of shopping in the sales to get a couple more bits to send home. We wandered around the neatly set out streets of Christchurch for a couple of hours and picked a few bargains up. We then spent a little time in cathedral square before getting a bite to eat and watching Kung Fu Panda at the cinema, which was smaller than the New Plymouth one, with around 30-40 seats but it was only $10.

Wednesday 2nd July We got another parcel ready to send home today and took it off to the post office. Once that was gone we had another wander around Christchurch checking out various sights and streets walking around you really get the feel of one off the old English university towns. Wolfie packed in the evening and we chilled out and watched some movies.

Thursday 3rd July

Our last full day in New Zealand and we decided to go out in style in. We left little England' (Christchurch is known as this) the hotel and went for a look around inside the young cathedral of less than 150 years old makes you appreciate the history that we have in the UK. Next stop was the river Avon and seems so we never have been punting before we went for a punt and they claim that they have been doing it longer than in Cambridge or Oxford. Just a little bit further down the road to the botanical gardens and got talking to an old couple who lived local for a while and then had a look around.

For lunch we went to a themed Japanese owned restaurant were the seats are toilets and the strawberry smoothies are amazing!!! In the afternoon we went off to the Antarctic centre and met the little blue penguins, experience blizzard type conditions, had a ride a Hagglund off road vehicle used in the Antarctic and learnt all about the cold place itself. We then went back to the hotel for an hour or so till it was time to go for our ghost tour in the old university, we met our guide DR Fibs and headed off into the darkness. We were taken throughout different areas of the old university watching a doll reappear and disappear, we could hear doors opening and closing, and in the distance and objects dropping. The finally was complete darkness and Corinne screaming getting rubbed up by a ghost and eventually finding our way out.

Afterwards we went to Winnie Bagoes a gourmet pizza restaurant, the pizza's are amazing we had a Moroccan lamb / lamb roast dinner mix (done half and half) AND a chilli chicken prawn / Thai chicken mix. They were very nice and hmmmm there goner take some beating. After a few drink we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the flight to Sydney the next day.

Friday 4th July

(Happy Independence Day to all our American friends)A bit of a mad rush on Friday morning getting the final parcel ready to send, dropping of old clothes at charity shop and getting Corinne packed as she always leaves stuff to the last minute. We eventually got the shuttle to the airport and left for Sydney (only for one night as were off to Fiji). Once in Sydney we relaxed at the hotel for the night and got ready for FIJI!!!!!!