Christchurch

Hi all!

I'm in Christchurch at the moment, although will be leaving tomorrow morning to board the Kiwi Experience bus to Kaikoura. I'm really enjoying New Zealand and can't wait to see more of the country because everyone I've met has raved about the scenery over here.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I arrived in Christchurch on Sunday morning and met Kelly, a girl from Sutton Coldfield, on the flight from Fiji so we got chatting and she booked in to stay at the same hostel as me. It wasn't long after arriving at the hostel that I met up with Jenna, the girl who I'd arranged to meet up with over the internet, so that worked out well too. Jenna had some friends out in New Zealand already who had bought a car between them so we were able to make use of that a few times which was great and allowed us to do much more than we would've been able to do without it.

I wasn't really planning on staying in Christchurch for as long as I have done but I've met some really great people here and it's a really nice city so decided to extend my stay for a bit. There isn't a huge amount to do here so I've had chance to relax a bit and have a wander around the city which has been really nice. On my second day in Christchurch we drove to a couple of beaches and also up one of the mountains which gave some great views of the city. The next day was spent having a look around the shops (I managed to lose one of my tops in Fiji so needed a replacement!) and then we went out in the evening to say goodbye to one of Jenna's friends who was catching a flight back to the UK the next day. The photo below was taken in Speight's Ale House where we stayed for a meal - the food there was absolutely amazing for the price. After that we went bowling and then spent the rest of the night in a snooker bar.



The next day we decided to go on a camping trip to Akaroa which is a small town about an hours drive from Christchurch. We stopped off at the Gondola on the way there which was another place for getting great views of Christchurch.





We didn't end up arriving in Akaroa until about 7pm but the drive there was really enjoyable and we stopped a few times to admire the scenery and catch the sunset which was amazing.





We just about managed to get the tents set up before it got too dark so that was a relief! We did have plans to explore Akaroa the next day but we were all feeling quite lazy so spent quite a lot of the day at the campsite which everyone was happy to do because the weather was great and the surroundings were really nice there.



Jenna & I were meant to be catching the Kiwi Experience bus to Kaikoura this morning but we managed to get the times mixed up so we dragged ourselves out of bed expecting to be picked up at 8am, only to find out that the bus had left at 7.15am! Luckily we were able to get another night at the hostel and so we went back to bed to catch up on sleep because we had a late night last night and weren't feeling too awake! So, we're now booked to leave Christchurch tomorrow morning and a guy called Jon who came camping will also be joining us. Can't wait!

I've uploaded some more photos to the internet from Christchurch which can be found at http://nottinghamac.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2120204&l=b4b41&id=199707669

I think that's about it for this post - I've tried to avoid making it as long as the one from Fiji!

Hope everyone back home is well, xxx