Marie Arrives

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We headed over the Hill (to Christchurch) in what now feels like a commuter drive (albeit a 3.15 hour commute). The kids had to go the orthodontist and we picked Marie up from the airport. She is over from Toronto for a 3 week stay in Kiwiland. We left the house late as usual which makes the drive over the mountain pass just a little more harrowing as we had to make up the lost time (Which is not to say at any time I put the lives of my children in at any risk). I picked up a flat white from the Broadway Tea Rooms on the way out of town. There must have been a price increase when I was in Toronto. It is now $4.30NZ for a large flat white. We arrived at the orthodontist precisely on time.
Marie was in good form at the airport. She ended up flying Toronto-LA-Auckland-Wellington-Christchurch. Door to door it must have been close to 24 hours. She insisted that she was not the worse for wear, but she did appear a little bleary eyed. Always the trooper, she was game for sightseeing. We went out to the Gondola on Banks Peninsula. Avery and Joshua hung out in the truck (apparently this is old hat to them) as Marie, Adrianne and I ventured to the top.
We wandered to the Lyttleton Harbour had a tea near the docks where Adrianne entertained Marie with wildly animated conversation. We headed back to town and did a quick circuit of the Cathedral Square. The Arts Festival is winding down, but the Futuro house(?) is still set up. There was a choir in from Oxford at the Cathedral. The acoustics in that building are well suited to choral singing. I am normally not a big fan of classic choral but there is something inspiring about wandering a cathedral with that background music.
We ran into the very odd fellow in the miniature house. He continues to move to different locations in town during the Arts Festival. He was just disassembling his house when we came upon him. We had a short conversation with the bloke who seemed rather normal when standing full height on the outside of his model house. The kids were much less “freaked out” this time.
We had dinner at Sticky Fingers, which is becoming our regular haunt, more as a result of lack inspiration then admiration. The service, which is usually incredibly slow was blessedly prompt and we were back to the Stonehurst Backpackers before 8:00 p.m. The jet lag finally caught up with Marie and she crashed for about 12 hours.

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Photos

Tea in Lyttleton
Adrianne holds court

Comments

[junior]

sticky fingers
Hey, we have a sticky fingers here in Barrie, ON, Canada! I wonder if there is an affiliation. Actually I wonder about alot of things. Like, do I know this Marie? Apparently the Travel-thingy-ma-jiggy crash has erased all you pix. Oh well, I will have to rely on my imagination... now, what would a Marie look like?...

[junior]

also wanted to mention
Not only do we have a 'Sticky fingers' here in Barrie, but in the convenience store, right beside the sticky fingers, you can get a chocolate bar called 'Sweet Marie'! I wonder if there is any connection there!?