Last Day Down Under

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NZ Day 16

The beginning of the end and the beginning of a new adventure..

We started the day off with our best brekky yet. We didn’t have an oven so I couldn’t make scones. So I used the scone mix to make pancakes instead. They were delicious. Especially because I added bananas to mine. Mmmhmm. Then we sipped through a cupa tea before we could leave to start our day.

We started our adventures at the Museum, where we turned out to be early enough to get into Fred and Myrtle Flutey’s Paua Shell house exhibit by just walking straight in. It was a very cute story. Fred and Myrtle were married for over 70 years. Fred liked to play organ music when visitors came over to see the house. (I recognized the songs they were playing in the exhibit from songs my grandmother played on the organ.) Sarah and I were impressed with all of the Paua shells covering the walls but we were almost more interested in the other decorations in the house. Such as the lions club banners hanging in the hallway, the anniversary congratulation telegrams from the prime ministers for their 50th and 70th anniversaries, and an award from the bureau of Tourism thanking the Flutey’s for opening their home to visitors for 27years in 1990. It was such a cute story I almost cried. I enjoyed seeing the exhibit but I didn’t really understand it’s place in the Musuem. I would have enjoyed it more if it were a local attraction. If I had come here 10 years ago I could have gone and seen it in their home. They had opened their house to the public starting in 1963 to tourists and even coaches of tourists to come in and tour their living room. They were there to great people between the hours of 9 and 5 and give them a tour.

After the museum we headed over to the Antarctic Center. There we looked at lots of displays and some stories about the NZ base camp in Antarctica. We also got to experience their much boasted Antarctic storm. Yes it was cold and windy but it didn’t amaze me. I was expecting to be blown over with strong winds but it didn’t. Oh well we were there for penguin feeding time which was pretty cool. We saw the Blue Penguins, which are the smallest species of penguins. They look so cute and little even though they are fully grown.

After our time at the Antarctic center we took a drive down the Lyttleton on a little peninsula outside of Christchurch. On our way there we stopped at a bakery in Cashmere to get some meat pies. I had a savory mince and a regular sized steak pie. We took the pies to Cass bay and ate them on a little dock on the edge of the water. Unfortunately the wind was quite blustery there and we were to cold to stay there past eating our pies. I did take a moment to play on the zip-line on the playground by the parking lot. It was awesome!!!!! Sorry I don’t have photos but I sure did enjoy it.

Then we drove back to the city and took a walk around the Botanical Gardens while we were waiting to be able to park near our hostel. Then we got our luggage that we stored here in Christchurch while we were traveling so we could repack and prepare for tomorrow.

I didn’t think I could ever get it all back in my bags but I think I figured it out. I hope it all works when we get to the airport tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s almost over………..I’m definitely gonna miss Sarah after all this time we have spent glued at the hip. I’m gonna miss my times down under. But don’t worry when you see me I’ll be happy to talk about it, because I have loved it and I would love to share.

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Photos

Look at me
I'm in Antarctica...well kinda. Here I am bundled up before the storm.

Blue Penguin
The blue shoes are protecting her feet because she is lazy and getting blisters from standing around all day instead of swimming.

Meat Pie
Mmmhmmmmhmmmmmm!

Packing disaster
this photo doesn't even give it justice. It's good we didn't have any roommates tonight.