Chilly chilled out New Zealand, 2008

We had an enjoyable couple of days wondering around Auckland utilising the excellent city loop bus .we caught the ferry to Davenport , cruised around a few galleries and loved the gorgeous Victorian weatherboard homes, all in pristine condition. watched the all blacks on telly in a bar that night and had some great meals near our historic B&B in Ponsonby as well.

A quick flight down to Queenstown next and we had a free afternoon to go up the gondola to look down on the town and we got to have a quick look around the gorgeous village, then from Sunday night on it was full on for 3 days and 4 nights with friends from the Real Estate Results Network. The conference was enlightening and we have learnt oodles to try and put into practice, we got excited about contributing to it and looking at how we can implement some things, so it must have been good.

We were treated to some cozy bars and restaurants in Queenstown, with open fires being the first must and then the food and wines, and we were not disappointed with any of them. On our second last night, a group of 12 of us went to “The Bunker” where we had our own bar for pre drinkies and the our own room for dinner. We made the most of it and had a rauchous time and the bill showed how much we enjoyed ourselves. We had a great evening (how good is this!!!!) but were happy to go back to the Hotel around midnight however many continued onto the wee hours of 4 am, glad we didn’t suffer like them, but they were a good 10 years or so younger so maybe we would have been there a few years ago, nah, I don’t think I could stay awake until 4 am

. 

There was no snow at all, so lots of disappointed skiers but there were plenty of things to keep everyone happy, many loved the dart river jet boat, too cold for us, we will return in the warmer months. We enjoyed our drive along the lake to Arrowtown and lunch at Amisfeld winery and also watching the bungy along the gorge.

After a 4 hour delay,( fog delayed flights in Christchurch) we arrived in Christchurch for our last 4 nights. We had a quick wander around and a bus ride to familiarise ourselves and settled into our wonderful Penthouse apartment, so I think we can amuse ourselves very easily here over the next few days , walking around all the sights.

It is all flat, so that’s great by us, the hill at Queenstown was a challenge in the cold. We have since discovered the culinary delights of Christchurch and caught up with friends for dinner on saturday night ,every meal has been wonderful ,with open fires friendly people and great atmosphere.

Plenty of art and culture in this city as well as beautiful historic buildings everywhere and a few striking modern ones as well. We really have had a very pleasant time and will return again ,these new zealanders are a nice bunch.