Lisa's Birthday Weekend in Christchurch

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Our first visit to Christchurch! What a pretty city and less than 2 hours from Timaru! We left Timaru on Saturday after the boys' soccer and rugby games. We had a long stopover at Dunsandle Store for a delicious birthday lunch. Timaru was socked in with fog but it was clear in Christchurch (people told us that two years ago there was a rugby match in Christchurch where the fog was so thick you couldn't see the field fom the side lines). We had just an hour to chill out, have a beer, eat some sushi before heading out to the stadium for the All Blacks vs. England rugby match. It was great fun and an exciting thing to do on my birthday. We had pretty good seats with a lot of action! All Blacks won by a landslide but the win was tempered by injuries to two key team members, Ali Williams and Richie McCaw. We had a bit of difficulty getting a taxi back to the hotel after the game and walked what seemed like miles before we finally split up and took two cabs back to the hotel. Another challenge of being a family of 5 - you must use a taxi van.
Sunday was spent driving around the beautiful city of Christchurch and visiting the art museum. The boys even found some fun things to do at the museum while Syd, Gregg and I took a short tour. I think we could have spent all day there and will certainly go back.
The next stop, as you can see from the photos, was the International Antarctic Centre near the International Airport. Any of you coming to visit will certainly have to make the effort to stop here. It was voted New Zealand's best attraction!

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Photos

All Blacks Rugby Match
June 21, 2008
Big win over England.

The Maori Hake
A warrior dance done before all games - really cool!

Tui Section
The big TV screen behind us!

US Antarctic Operations Hanger
70 % of all flights to the South Pole are made from Christchurch.

International Antarctic Centre
Penguin Feeding! All the penguins are injured in some way.

Little Blue Wears Blue Booties!
She has sore feet from being lazy and standing around too much!

The Blizzard Room
The temps drop to -18c ! Brrrr!

Hagglund Ride
20 minutes of rollercoaster type excitement!

Comments

[Robin Shapiro]

I love your blog!!
Hi everyone...it is awesome to read about your adventures and the pics are fantastic!! Happy Birthday Lisa..... Cheers, Robin :)

[Kiersten Stinson]

Hi to all of the Shivers! We miss you here in the Northern Neck! I love reading about all of your travels on your blog and David loves seeing Avery in pictures! Take care and Happy Belated Birthday Lisa!!!

[Donna McGrath]

Outstanding photos
Hey Shivers! Missing you all and jealous of the scenery and travel opportunities. Glad you are all enjoying and making the most of your time there. Keep the pictures and comments coming...living vicariously through you.