The long weekend in Christchurch

 Hi,

I was so busy yesterday that I actually forgot to blog.  How often does that happen?  Not that often.  Hahah.

We had a lovely long weekend in Christchurch.  Toby and Tessa were in the middle of exams so we really enjoyed the time with them when they were free from studying.  

We had our 6.30am Fri flight get cancelled at 9.30pm Thursday night and fortunately Mike was looking at his phone so he saw it.  He rebooked to the 7am flight Fri morning and we went to bed, grateful for a wee sleep in.  :-)

Up early (just not quite as early) and away by 5.45am in the car.  Mike had prebooked a car space for the weekend.  Checked in easily and we were on our wee plane to Chc.  It was a bit delayed - but not too much.  Landed in Chc and grabbed an Uber to Toby and Tessa' flat.

Toby was just awake and in his dressing gown.  By this stage it was 8.30am and he had an exam at 9.30am.  But they seem to be online these days - so he was scheduled to duck into the spare room and do his 4 hour exam.  We had a quick chat to him, then took the van to JT Autos.  

We left it there as grabbed an Uber back to Toby's place where we collected Tessa and continued to Little Poms for brekkie.  Mmmm.

Where is the quiz page?

Back to the flat and Mike got word from JT Automotive that the van did not get its WoF as there was rust in the cross member.  So he headed back to sort that out.  JT recommended Paul Hussey Panelbeaters to talk to - they were super helpful and squeezed us in on the day. Whew!  So we dropped it off there and went to Riccarton Mall to buy some clothes for Toby.  Then into uni to get a hoodie for him and sort out a few things.  Tessa was studying while we wandered around the campus.  

We did all this by bus.  Their bus service is different to ours.  You load up a card - but it is restricted with how it works.  The driver loads cash onto it.  So I gave Toby $20 and he asked the driver to load it.  And we travelled on Toby's card.  But we got issued tickets.  

Weird.

Collected the van all warranted and serviced.  Sweet.  Awesome work from the car service industry in Chc.

Dinner out at Pomeroys.  It was busy and Tessa was working.  Took us an hour almost to drive in and navigate peak Fri night traffic.  Dropped Tessa at work.  But as we got close to Poms, she told us she had an extra hour or two to join us (her manager said she could start later to catch up with us - awwww).  So I jumped out to walk to Poms and secure a table and Mike drove back to collect Tessa.

The walk to Poms took ages.  Hahahah.  I have no idea of navigation in Chc.  But it was packed when I got in there.  However, a table freed up so I nabbed it.  

Toby, Mike and Tessa arrived and then we enjoyed a meal.  Tessa ate the cheese dip and then caught the bus back to work.  We had some beers and then Steph and Sam turned up.  So we chatted to them too.

Eventually we headed back to the motel and bed.  :-)

Up for brekkie at Little Merchant.  I do like that place.  We went last time too.  Loads of plants hanging around the tables.  

Stayed in the room for a bit through the afternoon.  Tessa had an exam due at 6pm Saturday so that was her focus.  And she had work after that too.  Mike took Toby to get his covid booster and flu jabs.

Vaccine clinic was on Brake Street. That's the name of our PT!

Toby, Mike and I went to The Lone Star for dinner.  It was busy but we got as table as someone had failed to turn up for their reservation - 13 mins was too slow.  :-o

Vege Burritos were really good 

Dunno about the vegetarian salad, with streaky bacon and anchovies though

Then we went to the motel unit and watched the rugby while Mike and Toby tried Toby's Rolandbrau.  It was a good drop of beer.

Went to collect Tessa from work.  The mall the cinema was in was shut for the evening already.  But a family with Mums, 20 somethings and a dad and 3 young tweens were hanging around waiting for a taxi.  And at one point they opened the doors so we snuck into the warmth.

Mike wandered down a corridor to find the toilet and the security guard came to us in a huge panic and asked us not to stay as the mall was shut.  Toby asked if we could stay as we were waiting for an employee to finish work.  But he said no.  And then Toby said his Dad was using the bathroom, and pointed.  All 3 of us turned to see Mike slowly disappearing down a long corridor towards a toilet.  So the guard said that was okay until he's finished.

We waited outside once Mike was done.  The taxis slowly arrived for the big family group.  First one pulled up.  The Dad asked the kids to call the Mums and 20 year olds.  They were a little drunk and not quick to respond to the situation.  The Dad was getting cross.  In the end, he got into the first taxi with the 3 kids and drove off.  The second taxi arrived.

The drunken women group teetered to the taxi.  One fell in the wee garden.  The others found this hilarious and one then fell onto the bonnet of the taxi as she dissolved into giggles.  Then they realised they had one person too many for the taxi.  So they tried to bribe the driver to let them squash in.  That wasn't happening.

But at this point the security guard, who was obviously happy the drunken rowdy family had left, invited us back inside to wait for Tessa in the warmth.  Thank you!

She arrived very soon after that and we walked to Rollickin and had a great dessert.  We had the Ashley Bloomfield apple pie.  And it was delicious.

Back home to bed.  Lazy Sunday for us.  But we eventually checked out of the unit.  Thank you to The Coachman for another nice stay.

Toby was not feeling well after his two vaccinations the day before.  He looked a bit crook.  So we did a few things with Tessa. Had some brekkie. Met Steph and Sam at Diner66.  Enjoyed some American fine breakfast,  Got Tessa a shelf from KMart and helped her build that.  It looked good in their office.  Sat at Coffee Culture for a bit.

Then we dropped the van off at Steph and Sam's.  Said goodbye to them and got an Uber to the airport.  The van is now parked at Steph and Sam's for the next visit.

The NASA Sofia telescope was in town! A large telescope mounted inside a 747, it is parked up at Christchurch airport for southern hemisphere observation work. Seriously, this is a big deal. It's like being able to see the Hubble Space Telescope up close. We trudged around in the rain to get a good view. I fangirled quite a bit.

There it is!

Amazing. The small hump at the back is where the telescope door is.

Our flight home was delayed by about half an hour.  But we got to Wellington, grabbed the car and headed home to feed the cats.  They had been well cared for by Janine.  Thank you!

And I best publish this now.  Roz is frantic for updates on the Gilbert activities.  Hahahah.

Love,

Angela