Airways Motel Christchurch

... Alps. Today the cloud cover was typical of Washington State, overcast with showers lingering.

I made my way back down to the bus stop and didn’t pay attention to where the bus center was. This made me go one more stop and past the city square. I got off the bus and proceeded to the hotel. As I passed by the Cathedral a service had just started. The service is catholic service with a sermon. The sermon was about Advent ...

... here, except on the evening there were lots of party games hosted by other bus companies. Dan actually won one, (which I didn't enter) and the prize was a $300 tattoo. So the next day we just went there and dan got his tattoo.

I decided instead of travelling all the way back up to Auckland by the bus that I would fly up and change my flight to Fiji so that I could have more time there.

... forests & snow-tipped mountains, which was simply breathtaking.

Then it was Blenheim, the home of the NZ wine region. We visited a couple of wonderful wineries - the famous (especially in the West Bridgford Girlie Group) Cloudy Bay and, across the road from it, Alan Scott's. The sauvignon blancs, pinot noirs, pinot gris (grigio) & gerwurz went down incredibly well in the beautiful weather and lavish surroundings - and only the fact I had to drive (Anita ...

... there was around my age so i didn't feel like a total old ****. And, most of the people were travelling alone too. I have to say that the 3 weeks i spent in NZ were the best times of my trip. The people that i met on that bus were just amazing.

We started off in a place called Kaikoura, about 3 hours north of Christchurch. We were there to go whale watching, fishing and swimming with seals. I opted for the whale watching but the weather ...

... of
rain is not normal for NZ, not even in the winter and this particular
storm had seen the InterIslander ferry from Wellington cancelled all
day. Needless to say, all of Kaikoura's enticing boat trips to see
various wildlife, including the whalewatch, also fell victim leaving
us not much left to do but shrug and move on a day early to
Christchurch.Having caught a fleeting glimpse of
'The Garden City' on our way ...

... Vielleicht auch nur ein Kruemel, aber ich bin ganz high von dem ganzen FLEISCH. Leute, ich bin seit gestern uebrigens nicht mehr allein, sondern stolze Besitzerin eines '89er Mazda Familia Astina (bei uns 323). Tolles Teil, mit pop-up-Scheinwerfern. Ich habe heute schon meine erste Spritztour gemacht. Von Christchurch aus sieht man immer wenn man nach Sueden guckt ganz tolle Berge und da bin ich mal hochgefahren. Wir sind jetzt also schon Stadtverkehr- und Serpentinen ...

... We decided to book into a motor camp because we hadn't showered in 4 days and we wanted to be clean for our skydive; plus we needed to do laundry. I got talking to a guy from Hungary in the laundry room called Endie (Andy) who is traveling around New Zealand with his brother and actually hoping to settle here. D-Day ... the day the girls flew!!! We pottered around all morning killing time and not saying much (due at airfield at 12 noon). A gravel path and passed some ...

... ship, the Celebrity Millenium in port, but it didn't look like a nice spot they were in. Even getting into Lyttleton wouldn't be that nice, with the first view being the derelict wharf pubs. Weird that we last saw the boat in Alaska only a few months ago. 18 December Walked to Lyttleton for brunch in the Harbourmaster Café by the wharf overpass. Went shopping in the Riccarton Mall, then went to visit an old friend.

... made straight for our accommodation which is a very nice apartment complex called 'Living Space', right in the centre of town, 5 mins walk from Cathedral Square.

Katie chose this place because she wanted to stay somewhere nice(r) for Xmas, rather than our usual hostels or holiday parks. It's certainly more expensive than most other places we've stayed over here, but it's very nice, so no ...

... BBH hostels this is a great way to travel New Zealand as there are so many small and different hostels each individual from the next, great value for money and a great way to meet people. (Although the one i stayed in in Tekapo was sooo cold it wasn't even funny!) Lake Tekapo is a real small New Zealand village with some picturesque walks around the lake some of which i did while visiting and a people so friendly they are always happy to help.