Christchurch

Well, I can't believe we have just spent 4 days in Christchurch staying at the one place - a record for us as we're usually on the move! The large carpark at the St Albans Shirley Club was our home base for all that time being a generally quiet spot with big food trucks also parked there, well away from us, and a couple of other buses on our first 2 nights.

Sunday morning we drove round to our friends Helen & Bill's for coffee with them and Jude (a fellow class Physio from Lake Hawea) & Evan. 

We're

3 shades of grey!

Once again, a great catch-up. The day was drizzly and overcast so in the afternoon we decided it was the perfect day to see 'Celia', the movie. However by the time we arrived at the theatre - Alice's, a wonderful boutique cinema - it was already full.

Monday was another good day for golf, the chosen Avondale course being reasonably busy compared to other courses we have played but described by the lady in the office as being a quiet day.

Get in the hole!!

Not too hot on the nice flat course but the difference in the speed of the greens always takes a while to get used to.

How I felt at the end of my round!

I have to use that as an excuse for getting worse, never better, over these last few weeks. Yet another win for Len in the monthly challenge! However this was made up for by the best shower for ages in the clubhouse afterwards.

Also the Liquid Self Service Laundromat which, like PakNsave, was very close by, produced the cleanest washing we have had for a while too, even though it was a bit more expensive with having to buy a non-refundable key for $3 from the dairy next door before loading it with the wash and dry charges. Worth it I thought.

Tuesday morning it was out with our gold cards and a 10 minute walk to catch the bus into the city to see the movie Celia, this time booking first which we didn't actually need to do this time, with only about 10 people in the theatre that holds 37. A great documentary about an amazing lady determined to change the pathway for dysfunctional families to improve their futures.

From there we checked out the amazing, huge, new library which was completed not long before Christmas. 

2 views from the new library 

With several floors there are good views overlooking the Cathedral and the city and as well as thousands of books there are also interactive games to participate in. One could easily live in that awesome library!

It was another very very hot day of about 30° so it was a slow meander up the street to the museum which we visited before Christmas but raced through as we were short on time. Len had a good chance to see everything more slowly whilst, after a time, I had to sit and rehydrate with a bottle of water - just not used to the heat!

We met up with Crunch (from my Dunedin days) and his partner, Gill, whom we hadn't met before, at the Boatshed for a drink and good chatter before catching the bus back to base. Not so quiet in the carpark that night with loads of cars driving in and out around us until about 10.45. It seemed there were firstly children and then adults going to dance classes in a separate building over the other side of the park. Busy dance teacher!

This morning it was time to move out of the city even though there are still lots of golf courses that we haven't played on and we are generally getting a much better feel about centre now. There definitely is more life and heart in the city each time we visit and I'm sure in a few more years it will be an amazing place to live and visit.