Kia Ora! That's hello in Maori if you didn't already know! As you can see we're becoming fully versed in the ways of the Kiwis now as we've been here for over a week. Steve and I have had a great time in Christchurch catching up with Alison and Lindsay and we have to thank them lots for for showing us all the sights amongst other things. They were even able to fix the weather for us as it has been sunny, sunny, sunny ever since our plane touched down - what a result! Christchurch is a really small city but has a lovely atmosphere to it. It's very much like Cambridge or Ely so it felt like home from home in a way. There's even punting on the River Avon! I think I could definitely live in Christchurch if it wasn't so far away from everything/everyone AND they would also need to get a Topshop before I'd even consider moving there!

Lindsay and Alison took us on some day trips outside of Christchurch too. Our first visit was to a place called Akaroa, a reasonably sized seaside town a couple of hours drive away. We had to wind our way down some pretty spectacular hills and views to get there and we took a quick detour to have a picnic by the sea . Then we went to walk along the beach and the fishing pier. Nothing too exciting to see or do but an absolutely super dooper way to spend an afternoon in the sunshine if you ask me.

Our second day trip was to Hamner Springs. We did some hat shopping first before heading onto the mini golf course. By some miracle we all managed to get holes in one at least once so even though I came last I was happy that I had managed a hole in one! Then Alison and I headed off to the spa pools to sit and relax while the boys went off to climb a mountain (just so they could feel manly...grrrr). Alison and I had a great time getting pruney in the hot water and doing nothing but chatting!

Our final little excursion was to Willowbank, which is an animal sanctuary type place. We had the chance here to see our first Kiwi birds! They were so cute! They are nocturnal so we had to go through to a darkened room and be absolutely silent so we didn't scare them,. We caught a glimpse of one high up on a mound and then one came really close to us and was sniffling about in the mud. It was awesome to see one so close up. We also got to feed some funny looking pigs and meet the little piglets too.

So our time in Christchurch was brilliant and went far too quickly for my liking. Steve and I have now jumped on the Magic bus which is taking us around all the major places in the island. So far we've been to Kaikoura where we did the Peninsula walk the afternoon we arrived. There were two seal colonies that we came across so we've got some great photos of them. The walk was so long and tiring but the views were ace. Really worth it! Yesterday we drove up to Picton to catch the ferry over to the North Island. We spent last night in Wellington and now we're now starting to make our way round various places in the North, including Napier where I am writing this blog. I've noticed a real difference between traveling around Oz and NZ already - NZ is just soooo beautiful that you spend most of your time just staring out the window on the bus in amazement at all the mountains, lakes, rivers, hills, sheeep etc etc! It is just a gorgeous country and I'm really glad that I'm going to be seeing a lot more of it in the coming month!