Friday 9th July - Sydney - Christchurch
Our last morning in Australia and all we had to worry about was where to spend our last $10 - we ended up spending it in McDonald's on breakfast - our first trip there since we were in India and we quite liked the breakfast surprisingly enough! The flight to New Zealand was not as impressive food-wise as when we arrived though we did enjoy the wine once more! As we jumped off our bus from the airport into our hotel who was there waiting for us in the lobby but Mark Schelling! So naturally we headed our for a drink and a bite to eat to catch up on old times thought it's only been a year since we seen him last . Mark's told us that New Zealander's pronounce their e's like i's and it's turned out to be true from when we've heard people speak. We said our goodbye and headed off into the shivering night time air for a good night's sleep.

Saturday 9th July - A good night's sleep was not sufficient when the amount of alcohol was taken into consideration so we had a good morning's sleep too to ease our hangovers - the fact that the bed was incredibly comfortable made it an even easier choice! The fresh crisp air helped us as we walked around looking for food. We settled for a place called 'Coyotes' and smoked fish and sirloin steak, washed down with a healthy dose of salad and chips. With chilled-out music and clear blue skies it was a great place for al-fresco dining (the outdoor heaters help too as it was only 10C!). Our first day here left us with an impression of somewhere more like in China as there are so many Orientals running the shops and the restaurants. We settled for an early night of tea and sandwiches and watching the film 'I am Sam' on TV

Sunday 10th July - Still struggling to get out of our cozy bed but we were out by 11am which was much better than yesterday! We walked the quiet Sunday morning streets past Queen Victoria's statue (it really does feel like a slice of England round here with lots of English street names) and down the banks of the river where we stumbled accross the Sunday arts market . We stood to watch an Australian street performer and before we knew it Derek was called up as a helper for about 15 minutes - most of which involved either holding a girl up or putting his arm around her (don't ask!). He was withdrawn when after being chosen for a shoulder lift the performer decided (wisely) that he was too heavy for that part of the act! Still, Sue got some of it on video! We walked around the very pretty Botanical gardens and ended up back in our favourite Coyote's cafe, this time going for a Mexican dish each instead. Derek got himself some gloves whilst Sue finally got to enjoy the film 'Groundhog Day' many years after Derek first enjoyed it himself!

Monday 12th July -
Phoned a few car rental companies before we opted for the aptly named 'Bargain' car rental for the incredible amount to $20 or 7 pounds a day! So that's a week's car rental for less than 50 pounds! Had brunch of a fry-up and a mushroom and bacon omlette. Ambled around the town mostly window shopping entering only occassionally if something caught our eye . The self-titled 'round city' bus trip turned out to be a spin up and down the main street! We dawdled in a riverside bar over beer and wine before grabbing some very tasty kebabs for tea. The evening entertainment was the Johnny Depp starred 'Jack the Ripper' film - 'From Hell'

Tuesday 13th July
Jumped on a 10am bus to the local 'Gondola' which whisked us up the local mountainside from where we could see the original settlement town of this area - Lyttleton which existed as a shipping port before Christchurch existed. As usual for us, when we got to the top, the mist had not really cleared, so our view wasn't amazing as promised but still good nonetheless. Back on the bus to head to the International Antartic Centre which details pretty much everything that goes on in and around this coldest of places. Christchurch is the place where many flights to the Antartic take off from. We had a go on the 'Hagglund' ride whilst there which is a bit like a mini-bulldozer that can somehow float in water and cross all kinds of rough and tough terrain. As we were feeling hungry when we got back, we did as 'backpackers' do and headed straight for a slap-up Mexican and bottle of wine in a local restaurant - very nice it was too!