So Hotel Christchurch

... look very nice. i visited the canterbury museam to learn about maori culture and other histroy things. also stopped in the arts centre, art gallery and cathedral as it was raining and cold and they were warm and dry so provided shelter for me as i hav come from hot and sunny australia. <br><br>i also arranged my car hire this took some time at being indecisive. i hav arranged ...

... Wines - Daniel is quite a legend here and produces distinct and individual wines. He is also a well respected consultant who works across the world for such great names as Stag&#8217;s Leap in Napa and Antinori in Italy to name but two. I was very lucky that he was tending his own vines when I popped in and had an exclusive tasting with him for an hour. He is also quite a raconteur and kept me chuckling throughout the tasting ...

... 8220;flowing&#8221; and Makau meaning &#8220;Cool&#8221; The West coast is known for its greenstone or Jade and from 1860's to the 1890's a lot of alluvial gold was found here. In fact people still find gold washed down from the hills today.<br>The South Island of NZ has over 10 peaks higher than 10,000 feet. Mt Cook, the highest mountain in NZ is 12,300 feet, but it looks tiny next to Mt Everest which is 29,000 feet, everything is comparative!<br><br><br><br>Jackson looked like ...

... punting along the river, streets names after places in England (Gloucester St, Durham St, Oxford St) and a huge Anglican cathedral in the centre of the city. Our first day was spent exploring the city; we visited Christ Church Cathedral where we attended an evensong and climbed the steps to the 63m lookout point near the top. We had a few drinks at the trendy strip of bars on Oxford St by ...

... pools, each containing different minerals. The smelliest was the sulphur pools which smelt like rotten eggs. After spending over an hour and half in the different pools we then spent the remainder of our time sunbathing. At 4pm we were collected and driven back to Christchurch, arriving at 5.45pm back at the hostel. As it was St Patrick's day we felt it only right to join in the celebrations, therefore we cooked our tea and had a few drinks whilst getting ready ...

... the wrong way. Went for a short walk to the Square and then finished a huge pub meal of Fish and Chips, pint of beer, huge piece of chocolate cake and ice cream and an Irish Coffee at of course another Irish Pub. We are in a small boutique hotel called Hotel Off the Square-as it is just off the square where Christchurch Cathedral is situated (http://www.offthesquare.com/ ). There is artwork everywhere, mostly of naked people but it is ...

... kiwi beer, Mac's Gold and its sisters that cover such a large spectrum that would satisfy any taste: lager, pilsner, white ale, red ale, summer ale, dark, you name it. We have to give credit when it's due: New Zealand might have slow and inefficient services, but they do have some of the best wines and beers. And we aren't insinuating that there is any relationship between the two ;-) In Christchurch we took a walking tour of the city and learned a bit about ...

... the shop was offering cruise passengers, before the shuttle bus arrived. There were a lot of crew on this bus, including our butler again and dining room staff.  Back on the ship, we had a late lunch (3pm) of hot dogs and then headed back to the cabin. Afternoon tea was later today, but dinner time came around quickly, and we had another excellent meal. Alan and Kate went to the show and then we all went to the cinema at 10.30pm to see the movie, Ratatouille.