Tuesday January 7

The alarm did not go off, so with 5 minutes before we were scheduled to be picked up Tom and Georg did some fast moving. They charge you if you show up or not, so we hustled. You arrive in this big soccer field and the 20 or so riders have to help get the balloon and basket off the truck, unroll it, inflate it and then you finally jump into the basket for your ride. It was incredible-so quiet and peaceful. After about an hour we landed in some random farmer’s field. The ground crew goes to the farmer’s door with a bottle of champagne and asks if they can go get their balloon. Most farmers say yes, so then we jump out (OK, not so gracefully), roll the balloon back up and wrestle it back into the big bag, hoist the basket onto the truck and bounce out of the field. Oh yes, don’t forget to scrape the cow patties off your shoes! Georg is to the left of the balloon, holding it open so the hot air get inside. Tom is helping fold it up.
The rest of the day we did some creative packing-gotta make room for the cool stuff we bought.
This was one great trip. Each and every one of you should be luck enough to visit this beautiful country. And take us with you!
TGT

Monday January 6, 2008

Monday January 6, 2008

Today was met with some failure and some successes. We planned a hot air balloon trip; we had at 4:00 am to see if our flight was a go or not, and unfortunately for us the flight was cancelled. We rescheduled for tomorrow... The silver lining in this cloud was that were able to sleep in! Around 9am we all went to the botanical garden in Hagley Park across the street from our hotel. Very nice rose garden and water gardens. Thelma pushed her wheelchair all over the paths and got some good exercise. We did a bit of sightseeing downtown. The center of the city is a very nice stone cathedral and big square. We took another stroll and did a bit of punting on the Avon river-little flat bottom boats are sort of poled up and down the river by a guy in a straw hat. The fun part was getting Thelma out of the boat, but many amazing things have been accomplished on this trip.
For dinner we were on an old tram circling the city center. The tram goes down the track and the chef prepares a yummy meal while we waved at the people on the street. We all thought the tram dinner was a trip highlight.

Sunday January 5, 2008, Christchurch

Got here yesterday and had a bit of time to scope out the town and then collapse until we leave-Hah! There is so much to do here. This is the town that prides itself on being most "English” city in NZ. Lots of gardens and stone buildings-they even have a river called the Avon.
Today Tom and Georg went on the long anticipated LOTR tour to see Edoras. The bus ride was 2 ½ hours long-this place is way out in the back of beyond. At one point we came around a bend and there was the mountain. Very cool. We climbed to the top and did a bit of scouting around (Georganna is now the proud owner of a rusty screw from the Golden Hall they built for the movie). We got to take photos and then had a champagne lunch in a sheep shearing shed (kinda weird combination) and back down the very rough road and out of Middle Earth. The van is 6 wheeled with a snorkel and the way they have to go through streams they need it. Fun.