Christchurch City Tour

Having too much fun so it's hard to keep up with this blog. We took the double decker tour of the city. Last time we visited a year after the February 2011 earthquake all the Center city was a Red Zone, meaning no one could enter the main city area. Now the majority of Red buildings are down and many new ones are going up. Rebuild will take many more years.  See all the pictures.

Music in NZ

We enjoyed Tara's performance with the Atlas Voices Choir in the newly restored Knox Presbyterian Church. Our Christmas present was VIP tickets to the Sol3 Mio concert in the Waipara Hills Winery near Christchurch. We bundled in layers for the cold but it didn't dampen our enjoyment of food, wine and especially the concert. There were also a performances of Mary Poppins and ones by the Canterbury and NZ Orchestras with carol sing alongs which added to our holiday spirit. It was fun to see Tara's enjoying her friends and life in the Christchurch music community. 

New Zealand Citizens

Tara and Al are now proud New Zealand citizens. It was an impressive ceremony including Maori entertainment and a wizard that also became a citizen. See pictures  from the ceremony.

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

It was a day for enjoying nature and taking pictures.

Christchurch Sights and Sounds

It's hard to keep up with a blog when you're having fun and there is so much to do. There was lunch out at the Tannery shopping area with another excellent flat white and Frank got a haircut and his new beard trimmed. We enjoyed, another trip on the gondola, something not possible on the last trip due to earthquake, bus to the Re-start Mall and Quake City (the earthquake museum) often observing the ongoing rebuilding of the city. Tara performed with the Atlas Choir at their Christmas concert and sing-along which was a great way to get in the holiday spirit. See all the pictures.

At Home in Christchurch

We stopped for lunch along the Coastal Pacific train route on our journey home. We arrived to find the earthquake street drainage repairs were blocking access to the lane to their house. Frank and Al shoved some fencing enough to drive over the sidewalk to get to the house. I now have a Christchurch library card and we're moving around the city via the buses. See pictures.

WW I Airplane Museum & Airplane Ride

A sedate trip to the World War I Air Museum in Blenheim turned into an exciting and fun airplane ride for Frank and Al. Tara and I enjoyed flat whites (coffees) and kept our feet firmly planted on the ground while they soared the wild blue yonder. See all the pictures.

Heading home to Christchurch

We started the day Heading back to Christchurch by visiting the Pic's Peanut Butter Factory in Nelson for a tour. It all started 7 years ago with a cement mixer with a gas burner added to roast the peanuts. Listen to or read the interesting story. Traveling through a major wine growing so it was only appropriate that we spend the night at a hotel in the middle of an vineyard. See pictures from the day.

Broadgreen Historic House

A rainy day did not dampen our enjoyment as we toured the Broadgreen Historic House and it's beautiful gardens in Nelson and of course lunch and flat whites. See some pictures from the day.

Wilding Pine Project

For Lu who asked for more information about the control of the non-native pines. The boat guide narrative about killing the trees with poison darts might be a tourist version of the reality. Yes they drill holes and poison trees but could not find anything about using darts. The workers wading ashore at the beach were going in to service the predators traps. See more information on the project.

Abel Tasman Park

The park is known for its popular costal track. The water taxis are a great way to see the beautiful beaches and to reach different sections of the costal track to start a hike. We all rode the Sea Shuttle together to Awaroa then enjoyed coffee at the lodge before Tara and Al set out to hike the track back to Tonga Quarry.

We walked around the Awaroa Lodge grounds and enjoyed a leisure lunch before reboarding for our return trip. Tara and Al reboarded later on the return from another beach. Check out pictures from our day of beautiful beaches, perfect weather and calm seas.

Golden Bay via 16 One-Way Bridges

We curved our way up and down the mountains across 16 one-way bridges and stopped to explore Hawkes Overlook and crystal clear springs and lake. Our destination was Golden Bay. The tides and time didn't allow us to go on tour out onto the Spit. I chased Fantails trying to get one in perfect focus, not an easy goal. We even saw the black morph Fantails. See pictures from our day to Golden Bay.

Two days of Nelson NZ Fun

Our first day in Nelson we visited the museums of wearable art and antique cars, a unique combination in one museum complex. Next day was the Nelson market for yummy food and condiments then on to Brook Waimarama Sanctuary where a Weka joined us on the path. The sanctuary is creating a special predator free area by trapping and installing special fencing to keep out rats, possums, stoats, cats and other bird predators. See other pictures.

Kereru House Bach

You book a vacation bach online thinking the place can't possible be as nice as the description and pictures but the Kereru House is! Check out these picture and this album of bird and flowers from our stay. I'll post more pictures to these albums during the rest of our stay.

Warm Weather and a Wobble

The day started with warm weather and a wobble. Frank sitting inside while we enjoyed our coffee on the deck felt it. Only a weak one which we did not notice on the deck.

Christchurch Botanical Garden Flowers

We had the first of hopefully many "Flat Whites" and toured the Christchurch Botanical Garden including its rose garden currently in a spectacular display of color. See slide show of pictures. See slide show of pictures.

Post Earthquake Realities

The Cardboard Church, road repairs, memorials to lives lost and historical building repairs all are post earthquake realities.
See slide show of pictures.

Market and Tara's Performance

We started our second day with a trip to the Riccarton Bush Market. Sampling our way through the market provided a better lunch than a walk through Costco. :) See slide show of pictures.

The day ended with Tara's performance with the local Opera Club at a car dealership.

Tara's vocal singing and opera career is definitely unique. She has sung in concerts with doctors and medical personnel, about tort law and porn, at the opening of a medical practice, a performance combining Maori and opera and tonight with the  Canterbury Opera Club in a Mercedes car dealership.See slide show of pictures.

Flight and First Day

We experienced United's entertainment on our iPads during the first leg of our journey. The movie I really liked was Monkey Kingdom, a Disney Nature film. It had a story line and LOTS of amazing video. It was great entertainment for one who once chased baboons through Kenya's jungles and Frank got to watch what he wanted.

The long Air New Zealand flight had a multi course dinner and breakfast before landing. Definitely not the usual airplane food! We had noise cancelling earphones to watch movies and videos or listen to music. It really did help to block out the plane noises. I didn't think I slept much but the flight seemed shorter this time so maybe I slept more than I thought. We had to get all our bags through customs and then walked them from Auckland International terminal to the Domestic terminal, a supposedly 10 minute walk. It taxed us old people who after rechecking our main bags at the domestic terminal had to carry our carry on bags down stairs to board the Christchurch flight from the runway. Some kind Kiwis helped us carry bags up the boarding steps to the plane. A bumpy Christchurch flight ended with the highlight of the day being greeted by Tara and Al. See slide show of pictures.

The second highlight was photographing birds in their backyard including a New Zealand Fantail! We are trying desperately to stay awake until bedtime to reset our internal clocks to local time. 

Preparations

Preparing for another trip to New Zealand to spend the holidays with Tara and Al. Now that I've used the puzzle to review the geography it's time to see if I still know how to add to our blog.