Winding Down NZ Thursday 1.31.08

There are some mixed emotions today as we pack up in Lake Tekapo to head for our final Kiwi destination. We still have 3 nights in Christchurch but we will have any activities interspersed with laundry, airline details, rental car stuff and the final packing process so it seems like the end of book one. We get a slow start nibbling on some fruit and yogurt bars, and then drive about a block to check out the church of the Good Shepherd and the monument to the other shepherd, the border collie. We elbow our way through 2 buses of Japanese tourists who are dressed for the prom so we can snap a photo of a bronze dog. Actually the little church is very impressive with a glass wall behind the altar that looks our over the lake to the mountains. No chance for daydreaming during the sermon here.

It is an easy drive through lowlands surrounded by the mountains once again but there is a little haze this morning so we don’t have the same pop to the view. Geraldine is our destination for lunch and we read somewhere that there is a great little café in the middle of town but we don’t have a name. We walk the length of town (3 blocks) and check out the possibilities and settle on a place called "Plums." Good choice. Mary has her first NZ pie, a nifty little chicken, mushroom and brie number and John has the Turkey Ploughman which turns out to be roast chicken with lots of fruit and great fries. If this isn’t the right place it has to be a close second. We walk around after lunch and find a bakery/café combination that is loaded with tourists from 3 buses parked out front but we remain happy with our choice. Coach told us to head north from Geraldine on the scenic inland route and we do, continuing through very scenic river valleys with Southern Alps to our left.

We get to our hotel in Christchurch late afternoon and once again the Princess of the map gets us through the weaving streets error free. The hotel is on the west side of Hagley Park, a 400 acre multi-use monster right in the center of town. The town center is straight across the park from us and we take one of the jogging paths to get the mile into town center for dinner. We walk through golfers, bikers, joggers, and soccer players, a few very happy dogs, and a few old duffers like ourselves out for a nice evening stroll.

We have a list of about 6 restaurants that were recommended from one source or another and we see two of them right away. We opt for Barcelona with an outdoor patio on the sidewalk on a street known as the "strip" because it is lined with bars and cafes. Mary gets a wild mushroom linguini thing and John has the Groper once again on a hazelnut risotto with crayfish emulsion. We watched the city scene as we sipped a little Shiraz and it was almost as nice as last night.
The hotel has a shuttle and we hustled to Cathedral Square to catch it. It arrives right on time and the driver tells us that we are lucky because without a booking he never would have stopped but he just thought he would drive by. As our friends Dave and Mary would say in code "SFL" where the "S" and "L" stand for "so lucky." Feel free to provide your own "F." ("We like fantastically.")

We have a nightcap at the bar and chat a bit with Irwin the bartender, a pleasant fellow from Singapore who is married to a Kiwi. He is off on holiday tomorrow with his wife and three little ones so we compare notes and we give him the details on the secret penguins in Moeraki. He is very familiar with the Singapore American School where our friend Patti from Crosslake taught for two years. Small world. Off to bed. Two NZ Days to go.