Day nineteen (part two)

After our tea and cake in Christchurch we wandered around the town a little and walked through the botanical gardens which were really lovely. The weather here is perfect for that sort of thing – it’s very fresh and bright which makes for quite pleasant walking weather, and it was nice to sit in the rose garden for a while in the sunshine. The centre of Christchurch is quite eclectic in its style; in some parts it feels quite provincial, in some it’s reminiscent of European gothic quarters and in others almost American. Certainly seems like a lovely place though.

When we finished exploring the town centre we decided to go for a drive in the hills around Christchurch and wow, we can understand why Peter Jackson found this place so attractive. The hills whose foothills the town is situated in are more dramatic than anything we’ve seen in the UK. Huge rolling hills, clear lakes, sheer drops and lush pine forests form a beautiful backdrop for the city which lies on a huge plain forming the vista all the way to the Southern Alps which can be seen miles away in the centre of the country. It’s difficult to do justice to how beautiful this country is and we haven’t even been much beyond Christchurch yet. We sat for a while on a large rocky hill which gave fantastic views over the landscape and, needless to say, took a lot of pictures. This evening we had dinner and played Rummykub with Jessie and a former foreign student of theirs, Komiko, who has come back to visit.

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Day nineteen (part one)

Steve doesn’t have wireless so at the moment we’re sitting in Starbucks by Christchurch Cathedral having some lunch. We're having a lovely (if slightly cold) time so far. We’ve been into the Cathedral and up the spire - very nice views from the top although by Sydney standards Christchurch is more of a small town than a city. The church was nice inside too and we were particulary intrigued by a wall design comprising lots of little swastikas... the plaque next to them emphasised that they were built into the wall and were intended to represent the orignal (peaceful) meaning of the Hindu symbol rather than that the moustache-sporting-genocidal Austrian guy. Still, slightly bizarre. We’re going to mooch around and then drive around the scenery ourselves after we’ve eaten.

(Little aside; Mark has just spotted a cake in Starbucks called a Chocolate Covered Afghan - he is very amused)

Love from us xxxx

Day eighteen

Today we got up at 5am (uuggghhh) and went to the airport for our flight to Christchurch. Our flight was OK – nothing much to report there. We picked up our car which was a bit of a surprise. It’s older than we expected – we thought we’d booked a new one. It’s not bad though, and the plus side is that they don’t care about chips on the paintwork. The problem is that it’s automatic and its wipers and indicators are in the wrong place – gonna take some getting used to! We didn’t do a lot in the evening; Steve took us for a little tour around the area – it’s gorgeous; so dramatic. We had spaghetti for dinner and headed gladly to bed :-)

Day seventeen

We had a busy day sightseeing today. First we went up the Sydney Tower which is the same height as the Eiffel Tower and affords great panoramic views around the city. Part of our ticket was to see the “Oztrek” experience. Well, what an experience. Not. Honestly, we sat through a virtual tour of Australia which was as cheesy as gorgonzola and was clearly designed to sell as much of the country as possible to tourists. The actual tower though was very good and we both enjoyed the views a lot. We also enjoyed having lunch overlooking the city – that was nice. After that we walked to the Chinese Garden of Friendship which was really lovely. It was a little spot of tranquillity in a busy city.

We then wandered towards the Harbour Bridge and walked about halfway across it to take in the views of the harbour. The area around the bridge is nice – it’s a bit like The Lanes in Brighton; all old buildings and little twittens. After mooching about the shopping district for a while we headed back to the hotel for a bit and then headed out for dinner. We ate in the Blackbird Café which is a really tasty restaurant overlooking Darling Harbour. It’s quite swanky around there – lots of lights which look really pretty reflected in the water. We’re going to pack now – New Zealand tomorrow! Can’t believe it’s going so quickly.

Love from Us xxx

Day sixteen

We did a bus tour today. It took us all around the city and we saw all the sights and learnt a little bit of the history of Sydney too. After completing the bus tour we went to the Australian Museum which was really good. It had lots of exhibitions but particularly good were the Indigenous Australian exhibition and the Dangerous Australians exhibition. The Indigenous Australian told the story of the Aboriginals and Torres Straits Islanders and how they were treated throughout the early years of the European occupation. There was a harrowing part about the stolen generations which refers to a policy of forcible separation of Indigenous children from their parents by the Australian government.

After the museum we hopped back on the bus and went to Darling Harbour which is a revamped area of old industrial harbour side. There are lots of shops and things to see there, including a Chinese Garden which was closed but we’re going back there tomorrow. It’s a nice part of town with lots of nice views of the water and also of the business district’s enormous skyscrapers. We decided to get on the monorail which takes you round in a circle around the centre of the town – that was a novel way of seeing the city; weaving in and out of buildings. For dinner we had a Pizza Hut buffet; bit boring but it was cheap! (and I didn't throw up either - score!)

Day fifteen

We moseyed into town this morning and stopped in “Hyde Park” (quotation marks intended) for brunch. We walked all round the harbour side and then got on a tour boat around the harbour which showed us all the sights. The harbour bridge is particularly impressive from the water. Sydney is a really lovely city; we’ve basically spent the last two days walking around aimlessly! In order to make up some of what we spent last night we’ve been to Coles and bought ourselves an indoor picnic for dinner. Tomorrow we think we’re going to take a bus tour and maybe go to the botanical gardens.

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Day fourteen

Today we said afuwiedersehen to Cairns and arrived in Sydney. Our hotel is really nice, just a Travelodge but it’s got all we need and we’re on the 14th floor so we have great views over the city. It’s a while away from the harbour but it’s a nice walk and there is a train station nearby so that’s OK. We dumped our stuff (after a twenty min wait in reception whilst a tour bus of old ladies tried to work out how to use the lift) and wandered into town. We walked around the Opera House and looked at the spectacular views.

In the evening we decided to splash out on a swanky meal so we chose a restaurant underneath the bridge, right on the harbour with views overlooking the Opera House. It was lovely. Well, until I choked on a piece of Parma ham and threw up into a napkin. How classy. Literally the nicest restaurant I’ve ever been in and I manage to make an arse of myself. Nonetheless, the food was really good and we really had a good evening; it’s just such a great location.

Love from us xxx