New Zealand - Christchurch

So we got through customs no probs, there was a dog sniffing everyone and managed to find someone with a doughnut that they wernt allowed!!

Then we got the shuttle to our spaceship which only ended up costing us $15 for both of us , which was great as we had been told it would be $26. The depot for our spaceship was only 10 mins away and soon after we arrived, another couple turned up for theirs so we felt safe to stay the night at the depot. We got to bed around 3am and then i reawoke at 6.30am desperate for the loo, so we found a Mcdonalds and managed to wash and get breakfast here, Luke ha another instant win for a breakfast wrap , so he had that for free.

After our breakfast, we made our way to the jailhouse accom in CHC which wasn't very far away. I'm still getting used to the automatic campervan , but it's a laugh!!

The jailhouse accom is great and such fun. It's run like a hostel and is noisy at night as everything echoes in the corridor. I think this is purposely designed to get to the inmates when it was a prison. The cells are set up just as it was and everything has a prison reference. The staff are called wardens and theres loads of great pic oppurtunities !! After checking in, we were still very tired so decided to have a nap that lasted 5 hours !! Once we woke up , we decided to take a drive out to the Botantical gardens and had a short walk around as we had put our washing in at the jail. I wanted to be back for it finishing in the dryer before anyone else got to it.

The gardens were lovely , such beautiful colours and lots of people walking with dogs. We met a great guy with his dog , who told us the weather would get better. It was soo cold for us and very cloudly. Just like England !! After the washing, we took the camper out to the town to go see the Cathedral and oversized armchairs !!

When we got there, we couldn't believe how quiet everywhere was. We had been diverted soo many times and realised it was because they are still restoring everywhere since the earthquake. When we got to the Cathedral , we were so upset to see that this too had been a victim if the earthquake and half of it had been reduced to rubble and the other half was being supported by steel beams!!

We found a small mall that was completley abandoned and had ruin from the earthquake. everything inside was left just as it was and looked as if people had just run out when the earthquake hit. A guy was outside who had worked there as the caretaker and was too happy to tell us what had happened. The mall was locked up but we found a way inside. It was amazing but very sad at the same time.

We took a walk around the square and read all the info on how the earthquake has devastated and how they plan to rebuild the city, even though 4 years later and all they can do is to try support the buildings.

After a very interesting walk, we were soo cold and had found a nandos which we were soo excited about so had to eat here. It was better than at home, everyhting had more sauce and the corn on the cob even came in sauce !! It was slightly more expensive but no refillable drink, but had spent nothing as yet so we treated ourselves.

We then returned to jail ready for a great nights sleep , i read the book on the jail before falling asleep.

What a great day- again !!

Love S&L xxxx