Shopping in Christchurch

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We did a fair bit of large mall shopping. I planned out our route the night before using the yellow pages and a map. I chose the malls which took up the most space on the map, which turned out to be a fair strategy. We managed to pick up most of the items on our list (including decent sheets and cutlery). The GPS was invaluable in aiding the navigation from one place to another. Astrid and the girls all got new bikes. Astrid was surprisingly taken with her bike. She is now insisting that we refer to her and the bike together as "Black Thunder" (the model of her bike). It was quite a challenge strapping five bikes onto the back of the Land Cruiser, but with a few straps from Smith's City we managed to get the job done. We have now logged more than 2,000 km on the truck without trouble.

We did not see much of Christchurch - other than the malls and three of the four Starbucks locations. However, school is out the week after Easter and we plan to head back to Christchurch for a more leisurely visit then. The mission to the big town was largely a success. The only disappointment involved a pair of pants which Adrianne bought the day before. We had hoped to return them for a different size. However, when we reached the store in the Cathedral District (centre of town) we were somewhat suprised to learn that all the shops in this area of town close at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. It struck me as odd that they were not open until 5:00, but exchange will have to wait for our next trip in.

The drive back to Reefton was as good or better than our drive in. The views from the opposite direction seemed that much more dramatic (it may have been the late day sun) It was everything that one expects to see in New Zealand (mountains, vineyards, rivers, sheep etc). I am getting used to driving the winding roads. I have given up driving full speed only to slam on the brakes as we enter another series of hair pin turns. The passengers are complaining alot less.

This blog will be the last of our daily blogs for the moment. I plan to blog at least weekly, or more often but only if there is something worthy of report.

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Photos

Lewis Pass
On the eastern side of the South Alps taken on our return home

Comments

[Abby Grayzel]

Kia Ora
Once she gets settled in, it would be great if Astrid could write a posting about a typical day at the office.

[junior]

weekly, I don't think so!!!
When have you ever known to accept weekly AD! Ok, I guess that might have been what killed it! Learn from history! I must ask what this 1/7th effort is attributable to? Paul get a job? Slow internet? Well I guess if multiple comments to the last available blog entries aren't a problem, I might be able to live with 'weekly'! Be warned, withdrawl has adverse effects!! TTFN

[The Maple Hyatts]

Keep up the fine reportiung
The length of these are perfect. I almost dread a weekly one. Great job on the commentaries. Maybe your next blog can provide some updates from the Richmond Hill excavation and perhaps some pictures if that!