First Full Day - Christchurch

So today, we finally managed to enjoy our first full day in New Zealand, and luckily the weather was superb, really sunny. Sadly the wind wasn't so helpful as it turned out at 4.30am that our Hot Air Ballooning was cancelled! Still we try again tomorrow.

First up after a nice breakfast was, a stroll around the city of Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island, where we would be for all of the first week. The city is very green and has the River Avon meandering through it, it really feels like a taste of old England on the other side of the world...a nice way to acclimatise!

First up then was a punting ride on the River Avon, see the photo to the left, which shows Amanda and I looking happy.

After this it was back to town for a view that money can buy, but I felt very privileged to see it, namely in the main square was a small zoo/aquarium which had New Zealands national bird, the Kiwi in it. Although it was pretty dark in the nocturnal room, we managed to see it, so we could tick that off our to do list!

Following a lovely lunch in the botanical gardens where Amanda managed to have a play on a tree (see below),

It was back to town to ride the old tram in town. The picture to the right shows me in front of the tram. A jolly old ride it was too, as there was a band playing old songs on the back of it...all the old classics, such as 'You are my sunshine' etc.

Finally, it was back into town for a bit of shopping, then a nice dinner and we managed to fight through until 9pm before finally succumbing to the tiredness and jet lag!

Would be rude not to!

Cheeky Beer to start the trip!

Christchurch

Yes, we made it to Christchurch, and managed to have a little look around, including seeing the Cathedral in the main square to the left. Jet-lag is pretty bad but our Hotel (Hotel SO) is very nice if not small!

Our Plane...

to get us to Christchurch today hopefully!

Made it...but not quite!

OK, try and keep up with me here if you can, we've made it to New Zealand, but only Auckland, and we have a plane trip to Christchurch still to go. As you can see from the photo on the right, Amanda was feeling a bit silly after a long time in the air here, taken immediately as we got off the plane.
Still judging by this photo to the left, I'm in not better shape!
However, once again the video screens were blurring with activity, this time I enjoyed watching 'The Blind Side' and 'The Damned United.' OK, with both being sport's related, I was always going to be sucked in, but I really liked both of them. Billy Bremner was hilarious though in the latter film!

We now face a walk to the Domestic Terminal to catch our plane to Christchurch!

Hong Kong

So we endured 2 hours in Hong Kong airport, which to be honest wasn't much kop! Not particularly looking forward to another 11 hours on a plane. Still I got stuck into 'Couples Retreat' and 'The Hangover' which were good, so thank heavens for small devices I guess!

NZ038...

...is off. I hope this flight is ok!

New Zealand here we come!

So here we go, the trip to end all trips. This is a retrospectively written Blog of my Girlfriend Amanda and my trip to New Zealand and Fiji in February/March 2010.

Thursday 25th February and we are flying for 24 hours to New Zealand via Hong Kong! Here is Amanda getting ready with a big burger in Heathrow!

Hope this stands the test of time...and enjoy!

Are they, or are they not for real...

Manchester City win again...leaves them level on points with Liverpool in 4th place with a game in hand!

And a win for the Glory Hornet Boys

Confession Time...

...I didn't stay up to witness it, in fact I turned off when I thought the Colts were going to win following Joseph Adddai's Touchdown in the 3rd Quarter. Still despite me losing a fair amount of money, I think I'm quite happy that the Saints won, and think it's a wonderful story if nothing else!

Superbowl!

Well, it's that time of year again, when all eyes focus on the good old US of A, for the greatest show on Earth, the Superbowl. In this case it's Superbowl XLIV or however you write 44 in Roman Numerals. It appears like the Colts of Indianapolis are favourites lead by their QB Peyton Manning (Right).

However, the underdog Saints with their two stars, Drew Brees (Left) and Reggie Bush have won the hearts of the Nation and possibly world, and winning could be redemption for a City ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

My own view on the matter, if Manning can be as consistent as he normally is and the Colts Defense can be the force they have been for most of the season they should win. However, if Brees can keep the momentum of early completions going, and RB Reggie Bush (Right) plays like he did against the Cardinals in the playoffs, then the Saints are in with a shout!

I'm staying up late, hoping we have a cracker!

Euro 2012

Interesting draw in Poland as the groups for the 2012 European Qualifers were made. Scotlands group is not that easy:
Spain
Czech
Scotland
Lithuania
Liechenstein

Spain will be exciting, especially with the Santander work situation, but I think second place is doable!

England in same group as Wales and another easy group!

6 Nations

Always very exciting to watch the 6 Nations championships, even if it did involve England Winning.
Ireland are still top of the early stages of the Championships, having laboured to a win against Italy at Croke Park in the early game.