June 27, 2017 - Christchurch



Sigh, today is our last day visiting the kiwis .  Tomorrow morning we’ll be returning our much-used Tuscon and climbing about Air New Zealand’s flight from Christchurch to Auckland.  But today we have one more chance to explore this glorious country.  We’ve cleaned out the car, had a leisurely breakfast in our own kitchen, and watched the crazy morning news people.


Milly is such a love!  She isn't really this fat, though!
 Now we’re off to Sumner, the part of the city on the water, where the effects of the earthquake were very pronounced.  There has been a great deal of restoration done already;  but you can still see scaffolding and the effects of rock slides.  We tried to drive downtown but the road and building construction makes navigating difficult  and we decided we’d seen enough and headed to lunch.  Later, we met Brad, our host, and he said the locals had trouble navigating, too, because so many of their landmarks were gone. 






The houses are all clinging to the mountainside.




Scaffolding on so many of them!



Lunch was at the Lone Star and will hold us a long time!  We split a salad with pan-fried fish and an open-faced steak sandwich with fries, and couldn’t finish! 















Downtown








Back home we try to check in to our flight to find that we have to wait for the departure time of our international leg.  In the meantime we can play with the cat who has come to visit again.  She is an empty love bucket!

It’s time now, to check in and it’s never quite as easy as you’d think;  but it gets done and we load the Air New Zealand app on our phones.  We’re supposed to print out our boarding passes but Phillippa’s printer is out of ink, so we’ll just have to work it out when we get to the airport.

Instead of going out for dinner, we’re just going to get coffee and dessert, since we’re still stuffed from lunch!  Phillippa suggests Coffee Kulture and we know where that is, so it sounds great.  On the way we can stop and fill the tank for the morning.

There are so many decadent desserts!  I get a Nutella and Dark Chocolate Torte with a jumbo white chocolate latte! Can you believe it?  I couldn’t finish it!  We go straight home, finish up some odds and ends and prepare for tomorrow’s ordeal.  I sure hope all goes well and we – and our suitcases – all get home together!

(I just remembered a conversation from a couple of weeks ago.  We said something about Trump and the people we were talking to, said we were okay because we were out of the country!  I guess Trumpers won’t leave home!)  No more politics.  It’s been a fabulous trip and I don’t want to mess it up now!!

Comments

  1. Margie H.June 27, 2017 at 11:27 AM

    What a wonderful trip you've had! I've enjoyed your blogs and especially your photos!
    Wishing you a good trip home. Be safe.
    We will miss you at tonight's Shaman Circle.
    Margie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mama dragonJune 27, 2017 at 12:35 PM

      Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! This is a remarkably gorgeous country and I've never enjoyed a people as much as the Kiwis! Tell everyone I said , "Hi!" and I'll see you Sunday!

      Delete
  2. GingerJune 27, 2017 at 9:41 PM

    Thank you for a wonderful trip. I'll go into withdrawal with out the daily travelog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mama dragonJune 29, 2017 at 12:14 PM

      So glad you had a good time!! Can't wait until we can exchange stories! And make new memories!

      Delete
  3. blkJune 28, 2017 at 7:21 PM

    What a gorgeous kitty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mama dragonJune 29, 2017 at 12:15 PM

      And she's an amazind people-cat! We just about couldn't get her to leave our room! I had to carry her home!

      Delete

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