Christchurch - a wedding and a Family catch up

Father of the Bride, Don, with his wing men
Bill & Trevor. All looking very smart😉

Leaving Nelson for Christchurch we stopped over night in Kaikoura at the new NZMCA camp site on the northern side of Kaikoura. It's a lovely big site - once finished it will be able to hold 100 Motorhomes. We were surprised how busy for a week night it was.
We had only just parked up when around the corner of the Shed came Paul carrying empties for the bin! Debbie & Paul, also from Nelson, had decided to have a night here too in their caravan and check out the new site.
They had a plan to do the Kowhai Cycle trail in the morning, and as we were in no hurry, we decided to join them. It was a very pleasant 26km ride mostly off road, with a mixture of coast, river and bush trail. Stopping for a coffee for some and beer & cider for others at Donegal House, we quenched our thirst before heading back to camp for a late lunch.

Mother of the Bride - Marg, with Vicki
& I - looking every bit as sharp as the Boys

Our lunch was almost ready, when Vicki & Trevor dropped in to eat their lunch with us as they passed by on their way to Christchurch to attend the same wedding we were heading to.
Timing was perfect 👍

Bill enjoying the view from
H&R's rooftop.

Arriving in Christchurch early evening at Helen and Ralph's once again, just in time for dinner. Another perfect timing!
 A wedding the next day was a great catch up with old friends and Marg and Don's daughter Jenner who was marrying her Spanish Diplomat Luis. It was a good sized wedding party in that we were all able to mingle. Lovely meeting Jenna's new Family and catching up with friends and family we haven't seen for years, mainly back in Nelson from the days Marg and Don had lived there.

Vicki & Trevor stayed at H&R's too for the night with their offer of wonderful hospitality as usual. No one was suffering too much the next morning (must be getting older) so it was off up the hill for a couple of hours to have the most wonderful date scones on the planet from The Sign of the Kiwi. Another stunning day in Christchurch. We caught up with the wedding party again in the afternoon out at Scarborough to debrief after the ceremony the day before now all the stress was over! Except was it!! The newly married couple looking at their marriage certificate the next morning, spotted an incorrect date of birth for one of them - It was a mad dash to catch up with the Witness's again before they flew out. Panic all over by the afternoon, everyone was nice and relaxed. Phew!

Spot Bill! Hanging out on the roof.

As normal on our visits to Christchurch, Bill once again visited his dentist. This time to deal with his German tooth for a final time, sadly. An extraction was the decided solution but now with a denture I don't think it will be! Bali is now on Bill's list of places to visit!

Bill playing with the kids toys-
note no children in sight!
They are hiding on the left 😊

Rochelle was arriving back in NZ in a week with her work and was to catch up with us in Christchurch this time to play Tourists once again. And once again, H&R offering their hospitality (I think they offered 😃).

Okaines Bay - a quintessential Kiwi Campground

Recreated slab Totora Cottages

So in the meantime H&R had compiled a list of jobs to keep Bill & Ralph busy. As mentioned previously in posts, H&R are ready to move on from their lovely nearly 100 year old family home and downsize a bit.

The big job this time was the roof required to be finished painting. EQC after the 2011 earthquakes, paid for 1/3 of the roof to be painted after chimney repairs. So Bill & Ralph were going to finish the job. Which wasn't an easy task when the front was like 3 stories of a modern day house! It took a few days of cleaning and replacing nails before they reached the point of being ready to paint.

Helen was busy babysitting grandchildren and I stayed downstairs catching up on computer work so we didn't haven't to watch! I'm hopeless with heights and even worse watching others!! It looks great now, but with only one coat it will require a  second.

The Christchurch Cathedral  is finally about
 to start it's repairs

Before Rocky arrived we had a couple of days away over on the Banks Peninsular at a lovely wee beach called Okaines Bay (15km from Akaroa). We struck a couple of Canterbury's hottest days - at 35 degrees we struggled to get out the door of the Bus. Nice and cool inside for reading though. The plan of coming over here was to catch up with Nelson  neighbours Jo & Dave and visit the Museum which hosts huge celebrations on Waitangi day ever since 1977.  Dave had mentioned the museum to us so we thought we'd join them the day before Waitangi of course, and look around the early Maori & Settlers museum that started off as one man's (Murray Thacker) private collection before becoming a Community Trust. The museum shows life of the early Maori & European settlers from the area, and the effects of the whaling and farming from that period. It's a significant cultural and educational centre for the area. Great replica Totara slab cottages have been rebuilt on site - they were pretty solid buildings.

Nibbles in the Square

By the time we finished our visit it was time to pack up and return to Christchurch. Picking Rocky up from the airport later that day, it was time to play Tourists for the next few days.

This covered a tram ride in town that gives commentary of Christchurch's past and the damage the earthquake caused back in 2011 and how the city is progressing now. We had perfect weather for strolling around, not too hot like earlier in the week.

We did a trip out to New Brighton and checked out the Pier after its repairs. This sadder suburb of Christchurch is still struggling, as it was before the earthquake. Such a shame but I guess the weather doesn't encourage the crazy prices of other coastal properties around New Zealand are asking for!

The lovely Avon River through the City 

We did a walk from Lyttleton up over the bridal path, stopping for a coffee at the Gondola before coming down the other side into Christchurch on the Raupaki Track. With H&R joining us for the walk, they were able to return to the car and drive back around to pick us up. Hopefully you Guys will do the walk soon too from the Raupaki end!

The lovely old heritage buildings on the Cashmere Hills near H&R's have been restored after the earthquakes and look amazing. And as the Sign of the Takahe has resumed being open for meals, Marg joined us and we all walked up for dinner one evening. Beautiful building, beautiful location.

Ralph on the keys ♭♭ at the Old Stone House

The Jazz Club has been having some of their local bands playing at another historic venue near Helen & Ralph's - The Old Stone House, which has recently reopened after restoration work. It's a beautiful building and ideal for any smaller events. So we had a few Sunday evenings there while we stayed in Christchurch. Perfect spot for a drink and a picnic on such warm evenings. Nice catch up with Christine and Ray too. Ralph - nice job on the keys.

The weather wasn't that great out at the Brighton Pier.

Dinner at The Sign of the Takahe

Helen, Rocky, Bill and Ralph with the North East views
out over Christchurch

We enjoyed our four days with Rocky once again and great all 3 of our children have had a recent visit to the Woodham's too before they move on from their lovely Villa with many happy memories our children have of our visits when they were young.

After her departure, Bill had a few more days working with H&R, getting a few more jobs done. Not the roof though - that will be for Ralph and one of his son in law's now.

It was time to head south and look for more salmon, while waiting for Easter and our return to Nelson.

Our last night relaxing before moving southward.
Who won??