June 10

A little update. We haven’t done too much so there isn’t a lot to write about. We did head out to the port town of Lyttleton outside of Christchurch- it suffered a decent amount of damage in the earthquakes- and we could see a lot of blank lots where structures had been, and tarps on several buildings and even some makeshift buildings made out of shipping containers. Even the cemetery had a warning about unstable gravestones. We went by the Anglican church spot and all that was left was the steeple and one cupola from the building. As we’ve ridden around Christchurch we’ve noticed that the churches seemed to have suffered the worst damage- or maybe they are the last to rebuild. Something about the wide open space of the sanctuary with no supporting walls inside may have been a factor- but we’ve not asked anyone.

We thought about going to church Sunday morning, but we opted instead for lounging about the room and watching New Zealand kids TV. Our portable heater unit fell off during the night so we blamed it on an imperceptible earthquake (highly unlikely). The boys have enjoyed watching really old Nick shows like catdog, angry beavers and Hey Arnold. Also, they’ve become enchanted with “Bananas in Pyjamas.” We watched a little bit of a rugby match between New Zealand and Ireland. The All Blacks whooped up on the little leprechauns. Josh picked up a rugby ball and we got in a little rugby time on the 'pitch' Sunday afternoon.

 Burke and George went for a run Sunday morning- we’ll see how that went later. We did make it to the mall and the grocery store yesterday. Food is pretty expensive and eating out is VERY expensive. We picked up some stuff for tacos, sandwiches and spaghetti. We did pick up a few veggies at the Lyttleton farmer’s market Saturday. My favorites were the organic pears. They are in the equivalent of early winter here (Early December) so we are getting lots of fall veggies (carrots, cabbages, cauliflower) and apples and pears. The fresh bread everywhere is yummy too- especially with a cup of hot tea or Burke’s new favorite- a mochaccino. If we could get everyone to enjoy some local cheese then we would be in business. Burke has enjoyed a sausage roll, while Josh had a bacon and egg sandwich. George and I enjoyed some sausages off a grill on the street. We’re true locals! The boys are also quite amused with how crazy the girls are here for the boy band One Direction.  Nice to see that that is an international  bridge builder.

The Henry’s are due into town this evening and then we’ll head out and get our RV tomorrow (Monday) morning. Driving a large vehicle on the left side of the road really should be great fun- we’ll be taking it slow for sure. Hopefully our resident Kiwi Tracy won’t get too impatient waiting for us to catch up! He’s somewhat in charge of our itinerary- we’ll let him negotiate all the tough deals since he speaks the lingo! We’ll be sure and post some pictures of the luxury RV digs and our sights along the way. See ya’ later! (the generic goodbye from NZ).