When we arrived in Christchurch about 10:30 am we were checked into our hotel by 11:30. It is boutique hotel and no two rooms are alike. The photography on the walls is quite interesting. Tastefully done, however, and as a photographer the printing techniques have me stumped. I'll have to take a closer look to see how it was done, but I did catch one of the price tags....$890!!
As we started our exploration, it was a bit misty outside, but within 30 minutes the sun was popping in and out and we were starting to shed clothes after awhile. We sat by the river on a park bench and soaked in some much needed sun. We guessed the temp to be around 70+. In the sun it was hot, but the shade was cool. The perfect day to be a tourist.
We stopped for a bite of lunch (Guy had fish and chips and I had some kind of beef pot pie type of dish) then went around some of the shops and to the market by the big church. There we came across the "Wizard" which must be local celebrity. He was even listed in the FROMMER's guide saying if you were lucky, in the summer you'd catch the Wizard about 1pm. He stood on a ladder and talked about women shopping. Then went on a male rant. He was funny. The market (I adore markets by the way) was ok, but nothing that I HAD TO HAVE on the first day anyway. We then took a walk to the botanical gardens. I think it was even more beautiful because at home everything is BROWN and DEAD! ha ha... There I had the best icecream on that planet. Amazing doesn't describe it. Oh, yeah, the roses were pretty spectacular as well. Took lots of photos.
Now comes the tough part...my weakness...Shoes.... I came across this pair setting out on a sale table. They are a MUST HAVE but are probably a half size too small. They are so unusual my gut is telling me to go for it!! I put them back to think about it. If they are still there tomorrow I'll have to try them on one more time. It is vacation, right? They'll pack small, right? I'll never see anything like them again, right? (are you catching my reasoning here) :)
Now comes the sad part...I got an email today that our overnight cruise at Milford Sound has been CANCELLED! That was really disappointing. Some sort of maintenance problem. So I emailed our hotel in Manapouri and we can stay there on the 3rd. I guess that will free up some free time in that area now. We'll still do some kind of short cruise since we have a huge credit coming back to us now. They only go out for an hour to 2 hours,tho. Disappointing. That is okay....maybe next time.
It is 8pm here (1 am at home) I'm letting Guy take a short nap while I'll figure out all this blog stuff and am uploading photos. I can't let him sleep too long because we need to go to bed in a few hours. :) Tomorrow we are sleeping in so we can catch up and try to get on this new schedule. I sure hope I can post a few things every day, but it has taken 30 minute to upload today's pictures. We'll see!!
We drug ourselves out for supper. Neither one of us were really hungry so we thought we'd at least split a pizza. The service was so slow and the pizza (and I love all pizzas) was mediocre at best. We didn't say a word. We ate as fast as we could because we were so tired we could hardly stay awake at the table.
Last thought of the day...Pictures...there is a little slideshow on the right of the blog. If you double click on the picture it will take you to the Picasa website where you can look at them bigger.
XOXOX