Blogs from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 153

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 22nd 2005

17.12.05 We have now started going to bed later and getting up later! We are relaxing now after relentlessly exploring as much of New Zealand as we could. So we had a late breakfast and had a slow walk to Cathedral square to see the market. They had lots of craft stalls. From here we walked over the river Avon to the Arts Centre for another market, this one was bigger. Then we went into the Arts Centre where there are lots of specialist shops and work shops. Upstairs there was a bead shop. So we spent an hour or so here creating and making our own bracelets. From here we went and had lunch at the side of the river (as the sun had decided to shine today). We fed the baby ducks. Then we ... read more
Making our bracelets
Making our bracelets
Christchurch Cathedral and monument

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 21st 2005

In the morning, we headed over to the Antarctic Center in order to familiarize ourselves with its layout, check our e-mail, and take the museum tour. The tour was quite enjoyable. At 1pm, we checked in for our cold weather issue. After watching a video, we went to the changing room to try on every piece of cold weather clothing issued for our travels. The clothing came in two large bags. The first bag is items that we need, but not required at all times or duplicate items. The other bag is our extreme cold weather carryon bag. We must wear the contents of the ECW bag the day of departure (tomorrow). After clothing issue, we head back into Christchurch (the airport is quite a distance away from the city center). We ate dinner at the ... read more
Antarctic Center
Botanical Gardens

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 20th 2005

We continued to fly onward toward Auckland. The flight was rather uneventful, but quite uncomfortable. I tried to occupy myself with the movies available, but found the lack of comfort distracting. Finally, at 5:30am we arrived in Aukland. We had to move through customs. First, it’s the passport check. Agents review our arrival pass and passport then they give us the official stamp of entry. We then collect our bags. With our bags on trolleys, we proceed through agriculture declaration, then the final bag x-ray for those like myself, whom have nothing to declare. After clearing customs, the group had to push our bags to the domestic terminal. The terminals were 1 kilometer apart and we had well over an hour before boarding. Thus, the walk was leisurely. We took our time taking photos of the ... read more
Between Terminals
Greeted by Raytheon
Cathedral Square

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 16th 2005

14.12.05 So today was our first day at the car market. Up at 8am to check e-mails to make sure we still have to go, and yes we did. We paid $65 for 3 days at the market. We put our van up for $3650 which was $250 more than what we paid as we were told we would make a profit. The prices have gone up from last time we had a look, ranging from $2000 to $4000 so that's good news. There were some really bad vans so ours shone out. So everyone hangs about or sits in their vans waiting for people to come through the door. As soon as anyone does everyone jumps up and goes to their van or gets out in excitement. We had just one couple look at our ... read more
Bye bye baby
International car market possy

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 15th 2005

Killing time in Christchurch prior to dinner and a shuttle to the airport (maybe a stop at the casino) thought we'd give one last line. NO WHALES!!!! We did get out on the boat however but too much fog so they aborted the trip and refunded most (not all) of our money. The extra bonus was Jon's seasick return to the dock. Ari please read as "Pull Over". Anyways. Adios to New Zealand. ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 13th 2005

After staying in Stonehurst Backpackers Hostel for nearly a week, we were anxious to move into our new cottage. For the last time, we jammed and jumped on our suitcases until they squeezed shut. A short shuttle ride later, we were at 5 Angus Street, Sydenham, Christchurch. Although Sydenham is an older section of the city, it appeared cozy and close to the Princess Margaret Hospital, where Mindy was to start working. One would think that upon moving into an unfurnished flat we would first search for furniture; however, we were happier looking for camping gear. ... read more
Our kitchen
The Toilet
Master Bedroom

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 11th 2005

Travelled up to Christchurch to watch a world record breaking game of cricket - not for teh 20 arrests, or 87 ejections, or 2 streakers - but NZ chased down 332 to beat the Aussies! Got a ticket in the renowned DB stand, and the Aussie Innings was dominated by some comedy ejections by the police. After the first guy was ejected for a poster that read "F*** off Clarke" it turned into a game of can you top this. Guys were kicked out throwing plastic bottles, taunting the security staff, spraying beer, and playing cricket in the aisles. Meanwhile the Aussies were racking up a decent total with some poor black cap bowling. The tea break entertainment a firefighter race around the outfield, was delightfully upstaged by two naked guys who made their way the ... read more
1st Innings
Crowd Entertainment

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 11th 2005

Bumped into Brant Laker - Will Jones at the cricket, so met up with him and his buddy Andrew for breakfast the next day, ,then went over to Goughy's house (palace) and enjoyed a beer with him in one of his boozers. For those of you who know Jamie - he has landed a job that's perfect for him - advertising and promotions manager for a couple of bars in Christchurch. He seems pretty happy at the moment.... read more
Goughy

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 8th 2005

7.12.05 This morning we popped into town to buy a couple of postcards of the penguins and set off to Christchurch. There was nothing to see or do inbetween. We stopped at Timaru, had a brief walk around and then had our lunch by Caroline Bay. Today the weather was nice. After a long, tiring journey we got booked into a site in Christchurch. We headed to the supermarket for a pizza and a bottle of wine! (treat!) and I made some great chips! We then watched a movie and bed. 8.12.05 This morning we took a unsatisfying trip to the Backpackers car market, the same place that we bought our van from in Auckland, to view the prices and get some information. Everyone had been told the same as us by the same lying woman ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 7th 2005

Twenty-six hours on a plane can drive a man crazy, but anticipation for what was to come kept us alive albeit … “flowery”. The sweat still on our brows from lugging our precious belongings through customs, we loaded into an airport shuttle. Our shuttle driver pointed out highlights of the Garden City, and we mentally scribbled a list a “places to see and things to do”. We arrived at Stonehurst Backpackers Hostel with a sigh of relief, but did not let the grass grow under our feet that day! We were already running on adrenaline, so we put it to our advantage and hopped on our bicycles. New to driving on the left, we rode our bikes cautiously at first, but soon realized that Christchurch is a very cyclist-friendly city. No worries! We treated our first ... read more
Christchurch Art Museum
Wavy Trees
Bumble Bee




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