South Island (Part 3)

We stayed with Doug's cousin, Chris and his wife,Shirley for the weekend in Christchurch and found that they had organised good weather for us and a barbecue .... needless to say the lads took care of the cooking and the beer drinking... whilst the ladies sat around laughing and sampling the wine!

Chris in red in the foreground and the husbands of Shirley's various sisters, plus friends Max and Matthias.















Shirley found something her sister said extremely amusing!















Shirley and Julie and then the rest of the gang!
A great time was had by all!






We also fitted in a Kiwi Encounter... in a lovely little wildlife park - Willowbank - once upon a time Doug and Diane had lived at 42 Willowbank Walk....ah! And as well as seeing the local wildlife, playing on tractors, etc.














These are not kiwis...



And ths is not a kiwi either.... it's a pukeko. Th kiwis, poor things, live more or less imprisoned in virtually pitch black indoor enclosures on special breeding programmes so they can try to prevent them from becoming extinct. In their natural habitat they are easy prey to all the beasts introduced by the settlers... dogs, cats, rats, etc.








We had a go at being Mauris... ask Doug to show you his hukka.














We also had time to explore Christchurch as "tourists" - we loved the Penguin Express, but opted for the old tram for a tour of the city. Just a few shots to give you an idea of the city.
































The River Avon runs through the centre of Christchurch and we found a lovely little tapas bar for a leisurely lunch...Spanish influence yet again!


















A big thank you to Chris & Shirl for making our trip to Christchurch such a memorable one.

Then back on the road taking in Kaikoura where we went whale watching.... absolutely amazing and worthy with all the other sea creatures we have seen of its own posting.. Keep an eye open for that one. After Kaikoura we headed towards Blenheim, Picton and the Marlborough Sounds and a drop of wine tasting at a couple of the wineries. Certainly found a few NZ wines that day that we will try again once we get home. And truly everywhere we went there were magnificent displays of one of our favourite plants - the agapanthus.












On yet another grey day .... it was farewell South Island and on to the Interislander Ferry.... to North Island.

But don't forget to take a look at our Sea Creatures posting.