Christchurch!

Kia Ora! Hope I find everyone is doing fine! As you all know, I just came back from Christchurch a few days ago so I have been trying to sort through photos and things. I will start by saying Christchurch is a beautiful city with many things to offer almost anyone. It is a very English looking city with old buildings. It has around 370,000 people and public buses traveling every direction you can see!
Nina (Austrian) and I flew down to Christchurch Monday afternoon and arrived around 3p.m that day. The lady we were staying with (Barbara) picked us up there and showed us around the city. We then went back to her house and ordered pizza because Barbara had a dinner meeting in the city.
The next day I went into the city to hang out with some exchange students I had not seen since the first day in NZ and Nina took off to go on a horse trek all day. Meanwhile, I hung out with Aniely (Brazil) and Debora (Paraguay) and they showed me around the city. Aniely lives in Christchurch with her host family so it was nice having someone who knew the city showing you around! Later that day, the girls took me on the city tram and gondola ride which was very fun! After that, we did lots of shopping for souvenirs and had dinner. I left them to go home but I ran into a "slight" problem........ I managed to get on the wrong bus which took me ALL THE WAY to the coast which was 40 minutes out of the way. I was then dropped off at the last stop which was a good 1 hour and 20 minutes from where I was suppose to get dropped off! I managed to find the right bus eventually and make it back home. However, I had given Nina enough crap about getting on the wrong bus about 2 weeks ago so between her and Barbara laughing and texting people about my mistake, I never heard the end to the laughter!
The next day, Nina did another horse trek and I went back into the city to meet with more exchange students. I met up with Aniely and Debora again along with Felipe and Antonio (Chile) and Felipe (Costa Rica). The guys and I decided to go to an indoor wave pool with spas, sauna's, and swim lanes. It was quite fun! Then we went into the city and met with another bunch of AFS students and we all had dinner at La Porchetta (an Italian place). There were about 15 of us out to eat.
The last day, Nina and I went into the city and looked for last minute things to buy. Then we headed to the Antarctic Centre because it was a 5 minute walk from the airport. We also stopped to see the United States Antarctic Program Air Force Base which is in Christchurch. It takes supplies to Antarctica along with scientists and soldiers. We then did a ride at the Antarctic Centre which simulated what goes on in Antarctica along with the temperature. We were allowed to go into a room where the room was -18 degrees Celsius. I don't know that in F though.
After flying back to Auckland, I stayed the night at Nina's house in Hamilton. I then arrived back in my town on Friday afternoon. It was a long but great week away!
I know this post was late, BUT you have to be patient because I am not near the computer always and when I am, I am not always in a mood to type paragraphs full of information! Hope you enjoyed! Check back in a week or so and I might have more :)


Me, Charles, Felipe, Antonio, Felipe, Debora, Aniely



























Me at the Bridge of Remembrance
















































Barbara and I

Nina and I on the plane

Me with the Arctic Mobile!

Heli Ride!

Gidday! I am again SORRY that I forgot to post this past week. Because school is coming to an end this Thursday, I will be posting a blog once every week or whenever I do something. I go to Christchurch next Monday (17th) so that is what I am looking forward to next!

Ok so, this weekend, my mate Nina (Austrian exchange student) came to stay at my house for the weekend. We went to Shakespeare Cliff which is a few kilometres down the road from my house. The history to that cliff was made by Captain Cook. Captain cook landed on "Cooks Beach" and saw the cliff next to it and thought it looked like Shakespeare nose, so he named it Shakespeare Cliff. I have a picture attached on the bottom of the view from the cliff. It’s amazing!

After going to Shakespeare’s Cliff, we walked to the ferry landing which was another kilometre or so. We got on the ferry and went across and had lunch at a Fish N' Chips place. We then started our walk to the Whitianga Airport which was a very long distance (maybe 3km or more?) When we got to the airport, we hung around for a hour or so and then boarded the helicopter. It was just us two so we got a private ride. The pilot, Karen, showed us lots of the islands and things around Whitianga. It was really a great ride. We were only in the air for about 15 minutes but then again, it costs a fortune to get a helicopter off the ground. After that, we got a ride back into town and went to the beach for a bit but however, it started to rain so we walked back to our bus stop. The rain stopped and we eventually walked back down to the beach for a bit and then went back to catch our bus from Whitianga back around to Hahei.

After getting back to Hahei, we went down to Hahei beach and walked along that and through the marine reserve. That was another good 1km walk. After that, we went back to the Cafe which my mum Pat owns and we had dinner there. We ate fast because it was close to 7p.m and we wanted to go to Cathedral Cove yet which is only a 1 hour walk from the Cafe. However, in NZ, when the sun starts to go down, you have about 5-10 minutes before its BLACK! The sun crashes down. We made it the cove and then started walking back to the cafe. It was pitch black and we only got lost 1 time by taking the wrong trail but soon got back on the right one :). We then headed back to the cafe and my mum picked us up there. That was my excitement for the weekend!!!

Hope you enjoyed the blog post this week! I will be writing one again after I return from Christchurch which will probably be the 20th of November. I believe that is a Thursday? Thanks!

Me in the heli

Nina and I with the heli

Cliff view-