Kia Ora from New Zealand Days 11-12

Day 11

We spent the day with Ann and Lynn, two local Kiwis, whom we met via our good friends, Helen and Diane in Coeur d’Alene.  We drove around seeing the sights outside of Christchurch.  Our first stop was a wonderful chocolate shop called "She Chocolat."  (SHE stands for Spiritual, Human Evolution. We introduced our new friends to the term “Woo Woo.”)  For a mere $9.50 you can have a hot chocolate on a stick where you dip a large cube of dark chocolate into warm milk melting the chocolate as you mix your own drink.  It was a lovely setting to get acquainted with our new friends. 

We had quite a drive up in the hills overlooking both Christchurch and Lyttelton Harbor, then headed to Sumner Beach were we had a picnic lunch.  The Seagulls in the area look so healthy and are really quite beautiful.  Their beaks and feet are bright orange, and their feathers are so white with high contrast to the gray wings and black tail feathers. 

 

Sumner Beach



When we got back to their home, Lynn started dinner, Bonnie rested because she had caught a cold, and Ann and I took a stroll through the gardens at Canterbury University.  As I mentioned in the previous post, everything is in bloom; and it is beautiful! We returned to a delicious lamb dinner including my new favorite dessert, Pavlova.

 

Day 12

We woke this morning to two 4.2 aftershocks from the earthquake they had here 4 weeks ago.  Buildings around town have green signs posting that they are safe to enter.  The street ½ a block from here is blocked off for repairs, and some buildings are fortified with metal beams. 

 



 

Bonnie still was feeling quite under the weather this morning, so we decided to lay low. We were to go for dinner and spend the night with a local family.  Bonnie did not want to spread her germs around so we are staying in our hotel one more night.  We did take an afternoon walk around Christchurch to Cathedral Square and beyond. 

 

 

 

The Avon River runs right through town with beautiful weeping willows and flowering trees all around.  These folks are punting on the Avon. Tomorrow we have a 10 hour bus ride to Queenstown.