Merry Christmas! It is so weird to wake up on Christmas morning and be in a strange place with no Christmas Tree or any special things from home. We set out the chocolates as presents for each other, but that was the extent of it.
We let the kids sleep in, so I decided to use the time to type in some notes from yesterday so that I will have them for the blog when we get home.
Danika got up and looked so cute cuddled in her blanket!
We had orange juice, sausage rolls, and white chocolate raspberry muffins for breakfast.
Today is going to be a lazy day. We are doing laundry and I am so happy to have it right here in the apartment. That is the best Christmas present! It is the last time I will do laundry here in New Zealand, so I told the kids to make sure they cleaned out their suitcases!
Today is going to be a lazy day. We are doing laundry and I am so happy to have it right here in the apartment. That is the best Christmas present! It is the last time I will do laundry here in New Zealand, so I told the kids to make sure they cleaned out their suitcases!
David and I headed to the Merivale Manor Management office to make cappuccino with their really nice ($2,500) German-made-Italian-Design machine. The manager was there and he insisted on making them for us. They were fabulous!
While we put another load of laundry in, we decided to take another walk through town. Wow, it was completely shut down. The only thing we saw open was a gas station. All of the fast food places were closed, not a single shop open. What was really sad is that there were groups of tourists walking around looking for a place to get some food! David said that typically the pubs in England are open on Christmas, but not here.
We did see a few interesting things as we walked around. We laughed when we saw this Dance-O-Mat. Basically, you put $2 in the machine to get electricity and then hook up your iPod or MP3 player to the cable under the lid and you have music pumped through the amps. There was a dance floor out in the middle with a disco ball hung above it. Basically it was put there because so many places were destroyed in the earthquake and they wanted to have a place for people to dance and enjoy their music.
We walked through the New Regent Street part of town again and it was deathly quiet. The trolley was operating, but all of the stores were closed. There were a few tourists taking pictures, but that is about it.
We walked for about 3 1/2 miles then went back to the apartment.
We did see a few interesting things as we walked around. We laughed when we saw this Dance-O-Mat. Basically, you put $2 in the machine to get electricity and then hook up your iPod or MP3 player to the cable under the lid and you have music pumped through the amps. There was a dance floor out in the middle with a disco ball hung above it. Basically it was put there because so many places were destroyed in the earthquake and they wanted to have a place for people to dance and enjoy their music.
We walked through the New Regent Street part of town again and it was deathly quiet. The trolley was operating, but all of the stores were closed. There were a few tourists taking pictures, but that is about it.
We walked for about 3 1/2 miles then went back to the apartment.
We decided to have our main Christmas meal at around 2:00 p.m. and a lighter meal this evening. There had been light rain and lots of wind all morning, but it cleared up this afternoon.
After our Christmas meal we drove out to the easterly most point in the Christchurch area, Taylor's Mistake, and it was a lovely drive.
While up there, we saw this beach and decided to make our way back to it. It is a cute little surfer's cove and we really enjoyed being out in the sun.
Jason went immediately into the water while Danika and I waded along the shore.
While up there, we saw this beach and decided to make our way back to it. It is a cute little surfer's cove and we really enjoyed being out in the sun.
Jason went immediately into the water while Danika and I waded along the shore.
After a while, Danika decided to go in and join Jason in the waves.
David and I had a little walk and then we sat on the steps and just soaked up the sun.
David and I had a little walk and then we sat on the steps and just soaked up the sun.
The kids came back and dried off in the sun...
Jason did a bit of digging...
We really enjoyed hanging out at the beach in sunny weather. What a lovely thing to do on Christmas Day!
When we got back to the apartment we brought out the fruit flan and really enjoyed our Christmas dessert!
David and I sat out on the balcony for a short while as well. It was so nice to just sit and relax. Laundry is done, kids are fed, life is good. We are ready to head out tomorrow.
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