Hello South Island

 We made it to Christchurch on the south island a few days before Christmas. We flew from Auckland, it was super easy. Our plan is to drive down the east coast all the way to Invercargill, stopping a few places along the way. Once at Invercargill we hook around and head northwest and inland to Queenstown.

Our accommodations in Christchurch were nice and brand new back in 1972 but suited us well, the Aalton Motel (map). It was right next to a huge park (Hagley Park) which was right next to downtown, a little far to walk across the park though. I was only able to run around half of it. Parking downtown was nuts, but maybe it was because everyone was shopping for last minute presents. Out of the few days in Christchurch we spent a bulk of the time downtown at Margaret Mahy Playground (map), the central library for free Lego building, the Riverside Market and a visit to the QuakeCity museum. Zane had a great time at all of them, minus the walk between each location. Zane, "I don't wanna go, it's so boring!" then we get there and hear "I don't wanna leave, (insert next super fun event here) sounds so boring!" Apologies to my Mom and Dad I'm sure I was like this too.

If you have kids or adult children or are an adult child you must go to Margaret Mahy Playground. We ended up there twice for a few hours each, it includes a huge slide in the hillside, a pair of zip lines, multiple climbing, swinging, spinning or tipping structures and an area with water features and sprinklers to play in if the sun is out, or not. Its also next to the river that runs through and around downtown. Nicole discovered ducks and large black eels, so she was really excited! Fun fact: The Romans do not like cucumber flavored Lays potato chips but giant black eels do.

Notice the long black eel under the step. There were many!

 Once you're downtown most things are pretty close to each other so you could walk but you may have to drag someone as you do. I may be pushing Zane a little but I think he can handle it. If you can park next to the convention center you'd be in good shape since it's about the middle.

Zane really had a good time building Lego's at the library. You just walk in and upstairs there are large pits and bins full of Lego. It was a nice break for Mom and Dad.

 Downtown Christchurch is full of stores for spending money. Shopping is not something we do generally but the people watching was fun and everything was decorated for Christmas. The area we liked most was the Riverside Market. It's an indoor market with about a dozen food stalls. My favorite were the whisky tasting and craft brew counters, yum. While I sat and had a pint of stout Nicole and Zane found a fruity ice cream vendor and came to sit next to me. The atmosphere inside was really cool, everything was fixed up in an old meets modern industrial wood and black iron sort of theme. We showed up here twice as well.

 

 One rainy morning we left the hotel in search of a particular Christmas present for big Z. This meant we had to do some driving across town to a mall. We bribed him to go along quietly with another 36 holes of mini-golf. One of the mall areas we stopped at is called the Tannery (map). It was a really neat place to see decorated for Christmas. Most of the shops are clothing or fabric shops but there was one that Zane found a really cool desk light. Nicole immediately purchased one on Amazon to be sent home once we return.

 

Across the way from the Tannery was probably the best mini-golf course we've found so far. Caddyshack City (map) had 18 holes indoor and each hole had a theme. One went through a castle with little gates that opened and closed, another was a saw mill with multiple routs for you to put through. Our favorite was a roller coaster where you hit the ball into a cart that pulled your ball to the top of the coaster and let it roll down a track built into the wall.

 

The weather was still cold and cloudy but not rainy any longer so we ventured a little further after mini-golf. Low tide at Sumner Beach (map) was fun to do some tide pooling and climb on top of and through the cave rock. Zane also meet a family of kids and joined them in splashing in the water, jumping off logs, and practicing his climbing skills.

On Saturday the weather was bright and sunny so we spent the day at Jellie Park (map). Its a community pool and recreation center with a few water slides. Zane and Nicole checked in and tested everything out while I went for a run. Finally, I joined them and within a few minutes Zane was climbing the stairs and going down this big winding water slide all by himself. So proud! We couldn't get him to go down the tube slide, still a little too scary. That was a fun day and we finished it off with a little DIY grilling at a Japanese restaurant where each table has it's own fume extractor. They bring you a pot of bright red burning charcoals for you to grill your own meat. Zane really enjoyed making his own, Mom helped though.

 Our final day in Christchurch we went to the Quake City Museum (map) downtown. The museum recounts the 2011 earthquake at 6.2 magnitude near downtown that damaged a large portion of the city. It walks you through everything that happened, from the quake itself to videos documenting survivors stories to how the city is being rebuilt. One of the scientific displays showed how a massive rubberized foundation system worked to reduce the acceleration on a building during an earthquake. The video that accompanied it indicated the research had been done at UCSD in San Diego. Home is never far away.