Arthurs Pass to Christchurch

---

Still New Years Eve

The weather on the west coast was lovely but cloudy and it started to get worse the higher up we went and the closer we got to Christchurch.

The mountains were awesome and they had loads of snow on them. The roads left a lot to be desired and we even went over a single track bridge that also has a train line on it. We couldn’t get over it quick enough imagining a train coming up behind us. We stopped in Arthur’s Pass Village for some lunch before setting off again. We had to stop to let a Kea Parrot walk across the road. The one’s up there seem to be more used to humans so don’t move out of the way. They have a nasty habit of eating the rubber off cars if left out too long. So we just zoomed on by.

We went straight through to Christchurch after that, just stopping once to change drivers again.

It was raining when we got there, and the streets are all one way so it took a bit of map reading to find where we were staying. Oh my god was it an old Motel. It was out of town again and we were upstairs again, but we just thought it will do to put our heads down. We all had a shower and got changed ready for New Years Eve. It was my choice again for tea so this time we went for an Indian - much better than Thai.

We then had a bit of walk round then went to the Holy Grail pub/club for the rest of the night. It was quiet when we got in and we moved three times before we got a seat out of the draught. It is really a sports bar but although sport was on the little teles, they played music and showed the videos on the big screen. It started getting busy around 10.30 and by nearly midnight it was jumping. We had dressed for the weather so there was no way we were going to dance in our trainers. Me and Aunty Tina wore Wales tops and Uncle Andy had his Scotland top on. The bouncer thought mine was an Ireland top so had to put him right.

There was a big party in the square and we had to walk through them all to get out. Well mobbed but we managed to get through. Dad phoned on the way back and I had a chat to him and Jo and all in all we had a good night. We got back to the motel and had a few more drinks and finally fell into bed around 4.30am.

1/1/07

We got up around 10.30 and then went back into Christchurch for our breakfast/lunch and by the time we had got there, the thirst was back and we had to dive into a shop to buy water. It was hard work. After that we went to see what was on at the pictures and decided to go there at night as it was less painful than going to the pub again. We walked back to the motel and Aunty Tina and Uncle Andy had a kip while I listened to music on the walkman. We went to the pictures for 6.00pm and watched Holiday which was a good laugh and we all enjoyed it, then it was out for tea and we had Chinese this time. We wanted to see the square lit up at night so we went to the pub and played pool but this time we all had coffee or hot chocolate and waited for it to get dark. The millennium cone looks well good at night, but the pictures don’t do it justice.

Still more to come

Ebo
xxx

---

Photos

Arthurs Pass
Very clever - the water and any landslides fall over the road into the gorge

Arthurs Pass
Start of the hilly bit

Arthurs Pass
More hilly bits with snow - just for Uncle Andy

Christchurch
Millennium Cone by day

Christchurch
Cathedral

Christchurch
Tram

Christchurch
The Holy Grail where all the damage was done!

Christchurch
The Millenium Cone at night - I'm on the left of the picture HONEST