Lovely New Zealand.

We had a wonderful time in NZ. Once again though our flight was delayed, but we got into Nelson just on dark.
It was great to finally meet Ang. Even though we’ve been net friends for 12 or so years, we had never met in person.
We had so much in common and there was no awkwardness when she met us at the airport. It was like meeting up with one of my friends in Melbourne.
The 3 of us got on so well and shared lots of laughs over the 8 days we were there. Ang took us around Nelson, showing us the sights locally and also took us on some wonderful drives. It is a lovely part of the world, with mountains one side and sea the other. Also it’s the sunshine capital of New Zealand and the weather was fantastic.
On the 2 days she was busy with other commitments, she kindly lent us her car, and husband and I just drove around exploring.
It was sad when the time came to leave, but we had all enjoyed the week.
After Nelson, we spent 2 days in Christchurch. We didn’t realise until we got there that the city centre is still off limits after the earthquake of 2011. Still lots of rebuilding going on. Our motel was just at the edge of the city centre, so we could walk to it. I took a few photos through the fencing. It terrible the destruction that was caused. We hired a car and drove down to the beach one day, and many roads were damaged. Rebuilding was taking place everywhere. One side of a road would be closed, and the other sided would be 2 way for the traffic, so people were able to get to work or shops.
Everywhere we went there were either buildings down or being held up with framework until they get around to fixing it.
Just outside the city centre, there’s an area of shops made from shipping containers. When our motel manager told us about it, we expected we’d just see these containers with maybe a doorway and goods inside. But they were really fabulous looking. I took a video of them and some photos as I knew Melissa would like to see them. Each one was painted different colours, some were doubled up, with stairs coming down the side, and all had windows. The people were just getting on with their lives and we were full of admiration for them.
After leaving NZ we spent 2 days in Sydney with Melissa and Luka. Had a fabulous meal at a Turkish restaurant one night then spent the next day in Sydney with Melissa on her day off.
Since being home the weather has been so hot. One of the days it was 39C and humid. I can take heat but not humidity. That just wears me out and I can’t sleep at night. Today was much nicer though.

This is Ang and me on one of the hills overlooking Nelson.

Kaiteriteri Beach

Flying in over the Southern Alps.

Rebuilding part of the city centre.

Withdrawing money at the shipping container bank.

Coffee shop.

Leaving New Zealand.

This is the video I took of some of the container shops. I thought they looked fabulous.

Went to a local wildlife park and couldn’t resist taking a video. I love meerkats. We also saw a Kiwi but as they are nocturnal the place was really dim and I haven’t looked to see if the video I took actually showed it.

Well that’s how we spent our time in New Zealand. It’s a lovely, scenic country. More British-like than Australia in certain respects.
I hope we get back there some day.

Bye……