Penguins, jerseys and jail-time

Been a busy couple of weeks so apologies for what is basically just an overview of events.

Christchurch was okay, we had a couple of days decent shopping out of it and a trip to the multiplex to see Fast & Furious 4 (yawn), but I must admit I rather enjoyed the feeling of being back in a city. I do relish the endless possibilities...okay, not exactly endless in a city the size of Christchurch, but still wider than we've had in months, and Christchurch does have a very English feel - underlined by the large number of English place names they've adopted in their suburbs (St Albans, Scarborough, Richmond etc.) Indeed we found a great English import store, run by a rather eccentric old man, and managed to relieve my homesickness a little by picking up a couple of packets of Angel Delight and a can of Tizer.

On our third night in Christchurch, we ended up in jail. Always a sign of a good night, I'm sure you'll agree. This particular jail, however, was decommissioned in 1999 and is now Christchurch's coolest hostel and, though the rooms are a bit on the small side (well, it WAS a jail), it has a well-equipped kitchen, free pool table and a cinema-style DVD room. Highly recommended if you're passing through, if only for the photo op in the lobby, which Isaac made look frighteningly realistic... The following day we drove to Sumner beach where we partook of a cream tea (whipped, rather than clotted, cream of course but the scones were delicious) before going on one of the most beautiful drives we've done the whole trip, over to the Banks Peninsula. The whole thing is basically one massive - now thankfully dormant - volcano, and every turn on every corner (and there are a LOT of corners) has a stunning view. We decided to take Jude's advice and take the long drive out to the very remote and beautiful Le Bons Bay, hoping to have a lovely private spot, so imagine our surprise when not two minutes after our arrival a big motorhome pulled in behind us and decided to park right next to us. I mean, really?!

Next on the agenda was the small town of Geraldine - another tip from Jude - home of the world's most Giant Jersey and a half-scale reproduction of the Bayeaux Tapestry made out of knitting machine off-cuts. Yes, really. It took the man who made it 20 years to complete and boy, does he like to tell you about it! And show you the one and only paintbrush he used. And point out all the bits he had to invent because the orginal tapestry was incomplete. But no time to dawdle there, no matter how tempting it may have been, because we were off to Oamaru to see penguins goddamnit. The yellow-eyed penguins were free to see from a vantage point way above their nesting ground on the beach, so we perched ourselves up there around 4pm to watch a few waddle in before racing back to town to see the little blue penguins, who arrive a little later. This one we had to pay to see, but it was worth it to see a 'raft' of penguins swim in to shore right in front of us, run the gauntlet past a fur seal, and take up residence in a purpose built hobbit-style village. A highly amusing period where the penguins ran around making barking noises* ensued.

The next day we began our journey back up north - popping back in to Hanmer Springs to see Ben & Coleanne again - to Nelson, since Isaac's mum Mary Lynn was due to arrive in a couple of days time. We needed to get a WOF** done on Jaffa and decided to do it in Nelson in case we ended up off the road for a day or two. Sure enough the poor old girl failed her test, needing two new front tyres, an repair on our exhaust mounting, a handbrake adjustment, an a small rusted section cut out of the driver's floor and a new panel welded in. A mere $450*** and one day later she was fully legal, just in time to pick up Mary Lynn the following morning.

More on that later...
*Who knew?
**Like an MOT for the English among you, or a certification for all you Canadians
***This is sarcasm