Off to the Races!

After all the flights to get here, we did not exactly hit the ground running. Jet lag did not seem to be an issue for any of us (which is amazing), but spending what felt like two full days in a big aluminum tube with a couple of hundred people did Kevin in.

With Melissa's help, we decided it wasn't meningitis, that's good. Maybe pneumonia, bronchitis, H1N1, or a chest infection. Next stop, Doctor's office. It seems a chest infection tried to attack Kevin. He trooped along the first couple of days and finally got hold of some antibiotics today. He should be back to himself in no time now. Neat fact: Commonwealth folk get discounts on Doctor's visits and prescription drugs :)

This is what we were hoping for!

We got our car today; it's not as quirky as we were hoping. A purple 1997 Nissan maxima from the Christchurch car market. It's a package deal kinda place, one stop shop for car, inspection, registration, insurance. We also discovered that gas is really, really cheap in the United States and Canada.

We went for an afternoon drive, through Christchurch and south into the foothills and over Dyers pass. Near the pass we stopped at Sign Of The Takahe, and at the pass we stopped again at Sign of the Kiwi. We also went for a hike that gave us amazing views into the extinct volcanic rim that's now part of the pacific ocean.

Sign of the Takahe:
A place of rest for travellers...

We stopped at Lyttelton for dinner, and had fish and wedges, this time we had ketchup too, because we brought our own! Kevin said it was probably the best fish and chips he's ever had. We drove back through Sumner, a very nice drive. Also saw a working time ball; we hope to return to see it actually drop....

Although we got off to a slow start, today it looks like we're off to the races!