Leslie visits New Zealand!

After spending the previous weekend working hard on my Art History paper, FINALLY, something exciting happened! On Thursday afternoon, I went to pick up Leslie from the bus she took from Wanaka to Christchurch.  It was super strange to see her in New Zealand.  But super exciting! She had been on the bus for 8 hours that day so we went straight back to my flat and had a pretty low key night full of chatting, Degrassi, belated apples and honey, and a late night junk food run to Countdown! lol!

Friday we slept in a bit.  We made some chocolate chip pancakes with Nutella for breakfast/lunch.  So good!   After that we headed down to the city centre.  We walked around a bit. Checked out some markets in Cathedral Square.  I showed her the Art Gallery, the Arts Centre, and we walked around the Botanical Gardens for a little while.  We got frustrated after a little while because everything closes in Christchurch super early. Around 5:00pm even on a Friday.  We came back to my flat around 7:00, made some dinner and watched a movie.

Saturday morning we woke up at 7:00 to head to Akaroa. Akaroa is a little French Colony/Harbour a part of Banks Peninsula about an hour and a half from Christchurch.   It was an absolutely beautiful drive through the Port Hills.  Our shuttle made a stop at the top of a mountain so that we could get out to take pictures.  Little did we know we’d get blown away in the process.  As soon as we stepped out of the shuttle we got blown off our feet! It was possibly the strongest wind I’ve ever experienced and I was scared I was going to drop my camera down the hill.  It was actually a bit of a struggle getting back into the shuttle.  Soon enough though, we arrived in Akaroa. It was absolutely beautiful! We first stopped a cafe to get some caffeine to wake us up since we had been up so early.  After relaxing and enjoying the scenery for a little while, we decided to go exploring.  The town wasn’t too big, but it had a strip of some cute little shops and some jewelry stores.  After looking at the shops, we decided to take a walk along the beach.  Took some goofy photos as always, and walked down the lighthouse. After breaking for lunch, we walked around some more, then sat by the beach and relaxed for a while before we needed to catch the shuttle.  On the way back, the shuttle stopped at a cheese factory.  Kind of random, but we got free samples, so it was cool! lol! After that I was pretty much passed out for the rest of the ride.  After making dinner that night we watched some more Degrassi, another movie, and then headed to bed.

Sunday we slept until about noon.  We headed down to the Riccarton Market just in time to catch the last 20 minutes.  lol!  We came back to the city centre and browsed some more markets.  Wandered around some more and stopped for milkshakes on New Regent Street. Which is my favorite cutesy little street in Christchurch, but nothing on it is ever open. Wandered around a bit more (it’s a small city, wandering is pretty frequent activity) and walked into a couple stores. Came back and ate some leftovers. I then introduced Leslie to Hokey Pokey ice cream, a New Zealand favorite! I think she was sold.

Monday was Leslie’s last day, and it was kind of a lazy one.  We slept in until noon and then headed down to the Canterbury musuem.  We had fun taking more goofy pictures and exploring. Wandered some more around the city. Turned out Nicole and Jordan were in Christchurch that day, so we ended up making dinner plans with them. Before we met them we sat down on a bench by the river and talked and watched the goofy birds wandering around.  Soon though, we got cold and wandered into a Starbucks.  Starbucks – a true New Zealand experience! lol! But not really.  We met Nicole and Jordan in Cathedral Square and then walked down to Dux de Lux for dinner.  After dinner, we walked down to Nicole and Jordan’s hotel. Which was possibly the coolest hotel I’ve ever seen. Everything was super high tech with really neat lighting and decor.  I almost wanted to stay there a night instead of my flat. lol! We hung out in their room for a while then walked downstairs to the bar and talked for a while. I didn’t even get carded, which I thought was pretty impressive.  Leslie and I ended up heading back to my flat around 10:30.  We came back and watched the highly anticipated season premiere of Degrassi.  We stayed up until about 2:00 talking about Degrassi, because we’re just cool like that. This was despite the fact that Leslie had to get up at 3:00 to catch the shuttle at 4:00.  So at 4:00 I walked her to the shuttle and we said goodbye .

So things have been pretty quiet and boring now.  I guess I should get back to working on my papers.  I can’t believe there’s only 2 weeks of classes left! I feel like I just got here yesterday! CRAZY! Not much is going to be going on before I leave for my two week New Zealand tour! Which I am super psyched about! I will try to update again before then!

~Brittany

Akaroa Pictures
More of Leslie’s visit