Hambledon Bed & Breakfast Inn Christchurch

... on the River Avon. We walked to Cathedral Square, looked inside the famous church and watched the various entertainment while we had fish and chips for lunch (which we had to guard from the seagulls which attacked us in order to steal our fish). Then we returned our rental car and accepted delivery of campervan which will be our transportation and our home for the next four weeks.

... We stayed right next to the beach. As we got there, Jake and I almost tripped over what we thought was a black labrador, only to then realise it was a seal, from the local colony. The weather was pretty foul and whale watching was impossible due to the rain and fog, but on our second day the skies were perfect. We had decided to watch whales by helicopter as (a) you get to see all of the whale, not just a bit of its tail or body, (b) you get to see lots more, as ...

... views on all sides. We could see the entire penninsula, which is actually a giant crater filled with water, and Christchurch city. The sun was setting so everything turned orange and glowed. Soon it began to get dark and we drove back to the city. We went for dinner in a pub down the road from the Jailhouse. It was a lovely cosy pub with a fire and we ate bangers and mash and burgers. We stayed to watch the All Blacks play France on the TV while drinking ...

... giant stacks of, well, pancakes. There
were some interesting displays on the way round the short walk
explaining in detail how this had all happened and a great view of a
blowhole which had been cut through the rocks and made a strange
woofing (yes, really!) sound every time a wave broke through it. All
very educational, as had almost all of the attractions we'd seen in
New Zealand. Make no mistake there is a real ...

... Cathedral, which was lofty and beautiful in its own way. We also paid the $10 for us all to climb to the top of the tower - 147 stairs and a lot of them a tight spiral staircase (made me feel a bit claustrophobic!). Nice views of Christchurch at the top, but the return trip down made me feel a bit ill after going around and around and around... Back to the 5th wheel after that.

woke up about 11, and wanted to go mountain biking, but it was raining, so insitead we went to the aquarium and kiwi room in central christchurch, it was average! but a good way to do something touristy! then we drove out to lyttleton port under the tunnel, and got the ferry out to an island and had a beer and some chips and came ...

... and drinks were really cheap ... not that we overdid it of course!!! Next morning we decided to blast back across the Northland; on the way we discovered Ruby Beach where every stone was perfect for skimming ... Dad would have loved it! We stopped at Blenheim on the East Coast but it was pretty much a small shopping town with no soul, so we carried on to Kaikoura. Although the camper can be a real pain in the butt at times, the beauty of it is that if we arrive ...

... wine. 16 December Lazy day enjoying the terrace and the comfy lounge. Went out to visit more family in the afternoon, had dinner out then returned for more wine in Cass Bay. 17 December Went to the Air Force museum in the morning, and did some shopping. Had lunch on the beach in Sumner then another afternoon on the terrace. Went out to the Volcano restaurant in Lyttleton which was good as always. Saw our ...

... from home, which was great. Thanks very much to whoever sent us anything ;)

I'd bought everyone small presents, and had managed to buy Hutchy a selection of weird & wonderful presents from the equivalent of a Poundland store!

I'm not sure he expected us to buy him anything, and he seemed quite chuffed with his bunny ears, pellet gun and glasses with the eyes falling out, slinky style!



After having a good laugh at ...

... it, people clambering to get in the driver’s seat and Julia draping herself all over the bonnet like she was in a photo shoot for a magazine with a title like Vixens & V8s or, more likely in this case, Hornbags & Sensible Hire Cars.

Ken, Lori, Daneeka and Julia jumped in, and with the CD player cranking, we aimlessly cruised the streets like a bunch of idle kids with nothing better to do. Which considering we were just filling in the time before ...