Goodbye Oz, Hello NZ, Sorry Christchurch

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Well our last night in Sydney was at the Opera House watching Madame Butterfly and what an evening it was. It is my favorite opera and in Sydney Opera House, you cannot get to beat that - mind you I can never see Madame Butterfly again now can I. I still have a present outstanding for Covent Garden and I always said when that Madame Butterfly came to Covent Garden I will see it there, so I am going to have to think of another one I would like to see there maybe Lucia di Lammermoor (Maria Callas made famous - well that is what I think anyway to all you opera aficionados out there, ha ha).



We were sorry to leave our little studio apartment in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Before arriving in Oz I must admit I would never have gone if it was not for Mike’s daughter and her family and even after being there a few weeks I could not see myself ever thinking I could live there - however, after a week in each of Brisbane and Sydney, if I was a young chicken like a lot of you lot out there get yourselves over there as it is a fantastic life and will give you an outdoor existence, not like in good old Blighty. Anyway get back to the point Paula - I told Mike I could live in one of the big cities (being honest Sydney is my favorite) - what a turnaround!!!!



So off early to Sydney airport we went and whilst waiting in the lounge we checked it out for young children and babies as Mike’s daughter Jenni is going to England in a couple of weeks and flying Business Class on some of her journey with Sophia (7 months old) and we were laughing about if that happened to us and we had a baby next to us - we would die - mind you Jenni agrees as well and laughed about the situation - but hey ho Sophia is getting gold star treatment from her mum and dad - next time she may even have her own private jet, ha ha



So we arrive in Christchurch and even have to declare at customs that we have walking boots - not only that, but they want to see them - never had that before, they are North Face ones you know - we told them - they were not cheap (we didn’t say we got them from Vietnam for a cool £7 - could they be counterfeit?????). So we pick up our Jucy rental car (great value if anyone is coming to NZ). The car is an old Sunny Nissan but hey ho it runs (well at the moment, ha ha) and go through to the centre of Christchurch will be posting photos of our crib soon!



So getting back to Christchurch - All I can say is OMG, 2 years after the second earthquake much of the centre is still like a ghost town and the buildings that are still standing show what devastation an earthquake can cause i.e. which have not been knocked down as unsafe or knocked down by the earthquake.



We are staying at another Airbnb and this time the house we are staying in was also hit quite badly by the earthquake and is currently being sorted out by the builders and decorators.



It brings home how lucky we are in good old Blighty, well the northwest anyway. We do not have earthquakes, hurricanes (like NY has just had), bushfires as in Australia which we experienced first hand at Jenni’s.



It is so sad and to be honest I am looking forward to moving on from Christchurch (sorry, Christchurch) but our sympathies go to all the locals as they rebuild their city and their lives.



We went to Akaroa today and the scenery was breath taking although it was freezing and raining - to be honest it reminded me so much of Scotland, I suppose it is the first time I have been homesick. I think it is the scenery and freezing cold and wet, ha ha



We are off to Dunedin tomorrow which is supposed to be like Edinburgh - so my homesickness is probably going to get worse, I will be crying buckets soon, ha ha.



I cannot get used to seeing Christmas stuff everywhere. We were in a shop today and I said to the assistant that they have it the wrong way around - to which he said what - so I explained does Father Christmas have bermudas and thongs (flip flops to you all in Blighty). He agreed that Father Christmas wears a long red coat with fur and boots - I rest my case these people on the other side of the world need to wake up and smell the coffee - us Brits know it all (and need a kick up the backside for being condescending, ha ha).



We have booked the Milford Trek which is a 5 day 4 night trek. We have read that we should have been training over the last 6 weeks for it but how hard can it be when we have done heart attack hill in Uluru (Ayres Rock to you and me). I think we may need to get some more clothes that are not shorts as it is freezing here now and on the trek we are probably going to get even colder.

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Photos

Devastation
How lucky are we in Blighty?

Picturesque
What beautiful surroundings or what?