Christchurch: 26th-27th March.

Given that we'd been en route for 48 hours, and that we'd arranged to meet Chloe and Louise at Christchurch airport at 2:30pm, we were doing really well for time. That is, until New Zealand biosecurity regulations and our scrupulously clean consciences (unlike our boots) got the better of us, and we spent 20 minutes disembowling our bags (so that Jess could get at her shoes), while Armelle stood there with her feet in the air so that the soles could be inspected-like a horse having its hooves picked. What a sight! Consequently, we were a little less than on time, but as it happened, we met Chloe and Louise with perfect timing. It was so lovely to be greeted by two friendly faces so far away from home, especially as the last time we had seen each other was at the graduation ball, some 6 months before! We were both also extremely grateful for the lift to the hostel, and delighted by the fact that Chloe had seatbelts in her car. What a novelty! On arrival at Basebackpackers in Cathedral Square, although temped to crash into our crisp white sheets, we resisted the urge, and found Armelle a veggie sandwich, the only thing she could stomach. Unfortuantely, Subway was the only place open on a Sunday, so Subway it was. Then laundry, and straight to bedfordshire. The next morning, dodgy stomach or no, Armelle was eager to see Claire and Alex. Previous to and during travels, the 4 of us had tried to coincide a place we could all meet up, more difficult than you'd imagine, given we were visiting similar countries in reverse order. Armelle and Claire usually meet up in Chichester, but Christchurch made for a very suitable alternative! Lunch was to be found at an Irish pub, it was very enjoyable, and a great chance to catch up with Claire and Alex. Jess, however, was in pain afterwards, through over eating- unfortunately her tummy didn't inform her of this at the time, or she would have stopped. In contrast, Armelle only managed to stomach a few veggies. Searching for a (gentle) activity which would allow us to mentally adjust to being in N.Z, the four of us caught the bus to the gondala. Admiring the stereotypical sheep dotting the landscape, we made our speedy ascent, pausing briefly for the mandatory gondala photo. Armelle considers these completely ridiculous, as there's never anything in the backgroung, unless from a dodgily painted photoshop facade. Once we got to the top, we celebrated the Flat 6 Yew House reunion with abundant photo-taking: Armelle and Claire lived together in the first and second years of university.

This includes carefully timed photos of us from the ledge of the gondala station, Jess' camera on the brink of suicide!

We then decided to be adventurous and go for a walk, first we branched off left, to see some attractive red rocks, which Armelle could see faces in, (no, the stomach bug was not causing her to hallucinate,). At the end of the path, she then decided to clamber over a barbed-wire fence-everyone dubiously followed a short way until it became too steep (probably the reason for the fence), and the voice(s) of reason (the other 3 of us) brought us back to safety, with Claire catching her skirt along the way, and Armelle decending gracefully on her bottom. Returning, we decided to lengthen our walk by branching off in the other direction, which would supposidly allow us to loop back to the viewpoint. Actually, it lengthened the walk so much that we lost faith in the 'loop' as it kept on going down and never back up, so we did a 'quick' U-turn, despite having a map in our pockets which would have told us that we were in fact nearly there. To add further comedy to the matter, as soon as we got back to the viewpoint, Alex realise he had had the map in his hand the whole time! Before leaving the gondala centre, we went on an awesome/ridiculous/juvenile hilarious kids ride, which took us through the ages of Bank's Penninsula. This was all narrated by a flushed-faced kiwi girl of approximately 10 years who was very over-enthusiastic. The things we do...

Dinner that evening was at the Warner's hotel next to our hostel, where Jess and Armelle were very adventurous by both having starters as they thought this would be small. In fact Jess got given approximately enough bread to feed the 5 thousand. Twice. A quick nightcap in the Saints and Sinners bar at the hostel preceeded an early night, as Claire and Alex had a hot-air balloon flight the next morning, and consequently had to arise at 4am.

Jess didn't get up much later (or so she felt), and headed into town in search of trousers (after the holi madness had necessitated the disposal of the first pair and then the flies broke on her second pair, which Armelle found amusing), and she hit the shops before they even opened, which was probably a first.

After a quick bagel breakfast (honey and walnut cream cheese was the second first of the day), we met up with Claire and Alex, and decided to go shopping for the day anyway. This excited us greatly, as we hadn't been shopping properly and un-harrased, since the UK, there is no such thing as casual window shopping in Asia! After several purchases over several hours, and the experience of a rather pathetic mall, which required a route past many fetish shops, we had a quick lunch and said our farewells and bon voyages to Claire and Alex, as they were heading up and out to Fiji. However we quickly perked up, as a few hours later we met up again with Louise and Chloe, considerably more refreshed than the first time we saw them, us feeling disgusting after our flights, and Chloe and Louise having just finished a lengthy running race. En mass, we strolled through the botanic gardens which were very pretty, and back along the river and through the Art Centre gardens to a favourite haunt of theirs- the Dux de Lux.

(Louise and Chloe spent their 3rd year of their Environmental Science degree in N.Z, whereas Jess spent hers in France, and Armelle spent hers in Canada. It obviously made an impression, as they both returned to live in Christchurch.) We ate and drank the night away, and it was lovely to catch up and get inside information on 'what to do in N.Z' to make the most of our time here.