Exploring Christchurch

The beauty of getting to town at 11am is that we had all day to explore New Zealand's Garden City.

Victoria Park and the Avon River are across the street from the hotel. And only two blocks away is Christchurch Cathedral, the centerpiece of Cathedral Square. We had our very first NZ Fish & Chips experience at a rolling take away in the square. The Christchurch Tram rumbles through the city's Cultural Precinct and provides a great tour of some of the history.

We saw real, live kiwis at the Aquarium. You have to be absolutely quiet so as not to scare them. And you have to give your eyes a little time to adjust to the dark (they're nocturnal). But once you see them, they're adorable!

In the late afternoon, we decided to explore a little bit and ended up really, really lost. In fact, it's not possible that we could have ended up more in the opposite direction. (But we got to see some cricket along the way.) We wanted to go see Cave Rock... and turned up somewhere on the west side of the city (we should have been on the coast, on the EAST side). Eventually, we worked it out. And we got to see more of the city than we expected. Cave Rock was spectacular, by the way.

The Christchurch Gondola takes you up the side of a mountain. The views are spectacular! Unfortunately, the clouds began to roll in and the Southern Alps were obscured in the distance. Still, well worth the time and effort!

We had our first bottles of New Zealand's favorite, native beer, Steinlager. It's good, for beer. Dinner at the Blue Note Café in the New Regent Street entertainment district was really good... even if the service left a bit to be desired.

We're going to bed early, hoping to get our sleep schedules back to normal and eliminate any lingering jet lag.

All in all, day one was a blast! And there is so much yet to come!

Jeff Has a Blowout

On the way from Auckland's international terminal and the domestic terminal, Jeff had a massive blowout.

Not one... but both of the wheels on his luggage called it quits and disintegrated. It is no longer a rolling bag.

"Well, what do you expect? It was cheap luggage?" he said. He ripped the remnants from around the axles and hired a trolley to make it the rest of the way to the gate.

We'll do some luggage shopping in Christchurch.

Traveling to the End of the Earth

(or to "Middle Earth," depending on your SciFi penchant)

The flights from Columbus to Cincinnati and Cincy to Los Angeles were fine. The LA leg seemed a bit long but certainly nothing like Air New Zealand's 13-hour test of our mental and physical well-being.

Captain Xanax did a great job for Jeff. He was out like a light for at least six hours. Lieutenant Ambien fell down on the job for Marshall. There is no rest for the wicked. Thank goodness for the personal, in-flight entertainment, though. Watched "Hairspray" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" plus an episode of "Absolutely Fabulous." There were dozens and dozens of choices.

The turnaround time between arriving in Auckland and leaving for Christchurch was a bit tight. We just barely made it through customs, walked 95 miles to the domestic terminal and prayed the luggage made it on the flight to CHC.

Jackie, one of Air New Zealand's flight attendants, was the nicest, most reassuring, most helpful person in the world. She took extra care of us as we boarded the plane.

Calling from the Future

We've been traveling for more than 24 solid hours.

Friday, 7th December 2007 did not exist. It vanished somewhere over the pacific. And we're now more than 12 to 18 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone.

That means when we call home, we're calling "from the future" into "the past!"

And They're Off!

We're outta here!

Right now, at Port Columbus, it's mostly sunny and 9F. Yeah. 9F.

The MetService forecast for Christchurch on Saturday (the day we arrive) is for 19C (66F) and mostly sunny. The Weather Channel says it'll be 68F and sunny. Either way, it's an improvement. And we only have to travel 11,000 miles to get to it!

Don't Eat the Kiwi!

Right. It's time for a quick bit of clarification.

You don't eat a kiwi. You've never eaten a kiwi. In fact, it's against the law to eat a Kiwi. You probably have, however, eaten a kiwifruit.

A kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand. It's a nocturnal, flightless, long-billed, grub-eating little thing the size of a small barnyard hen. They are indigenous and unique to NZ. Since there are no predators on the islands, the kiwi lost the need to fly. Now, it's a natural, national treasure.

A Kiwi (capital "K") is a person from New Zealand. The Rt Hon PM Helen Clark is a Kiwi. The All Blacks are Kiwis. The term is also commonly used by currency traders referring to the New Zealand Dollar.

A kiwifruit (or chinese gooseberry) is the fuzzy-on-the-outside, green-with-lots-of-small-seeds-inside fruit you slice up in a salad or in a posh drink. They're great by themselves, too! And they have lots of Vitamin C!

Now you know. Enjoy!

Packed. Already.

Something is seriously wrong.
I'm packed. Jeff is nearly packed.
Four days early.
What is THAT about?

It started as a hunting-gathering exercise. And as things began accumulate in the spare bedroom, a small experiment ensued: "Wonder if it will all fit in one suitcase?" So a couple of things went in the bag. Then a few more. Then a couple more. Suddenly, there was nothing left to roll, fold, stuff or cram. It's all in. With a little bit of space to spare.

I'm a little disturbed by it, actually. It was way too easy.
Egad! Something has to be seriously wrong...