Kia Ora!

Kia Ora! Hello! Here is a photo of us Punting on the River Avon and Ricky piloting a 747. Today was another exciting day here in sunny NZ. We got up and took our time enjoying coffee and muffins in our room while waiting for the city to open. At 9:00 we headed over to the city square and then on to the River Avon where we went punting on the river. The river not large by any means but the views are spectacular. The river banks are lined with a wide variety of large trees, ferns, and other shrubs. There are many beautiful iron and brick bridges that pass overhead and a lot of ducks. There are also wonderful views of the surrounding city buildings. After our ride we decided to head for the hills (The Port Hills to be exact) where we took a gondola ride to the top and then rented mountain bikes to enjoy a ten mile trail to the bottom. I was a little nervous bringing Ricky down but he did great! What a terrific view we had of the ocean and the seaport. At the bottom of the hill before we rode back to the base to return the bikes we stopped and had lunch in a little seaside cafe'. OK, Mom and I had lunch and Ricky had a huge brownie. Then we saw the clouds coming in so we returned the bikes and rode the gondola back up and then down the hill once more. It was a wonderful day. It is 5 p.m. now and when we are done with the Internet we are going to bring Grammy dinner (a little McDonald's for tonight) and then we have to repack for our trekking. We can only take one bag (for Ricky and I) and have to leave the rest with our guide. So, tonight we are staying in and resting up for tomorrow. We will begin our journey tomorrow at 6:30 am with breakfast and then we are off to Kaikoura and Picton (heading north from Christchurch). There we (actually our guide) will shop for food for the next few days and well begin our trek. We can't wait. Wish you could all be here with us. Christchurch is gorgeous!