Day 1

– in Christchurch - we met the campervan rental people and went out to pick it up. All pretty straight-forward. She's a bit of an ancient beast with a huge appetite for fuel, but we seem to be managing. I think Keith and I are both a little disappointed at what we got, when we look at the other campervans on the road - they all look so luxurious compared to ours. But to be fair - you don't know what you're renting when you do it on the net - and we needed wheels and a bed. Yes, we got a few extras - a fridge, some fold-out chairs, an empty gas bottle. It's basic but it'll do. I think we'll both appreciate our "B&B" nights so much more too.
After getting the 'van, we headed into town and enjoyed walking around. It's a tiny little dorp really with a nice big cathedral, a square, a vintage tram route, some lovely arty-crafty shops and of course a hoard of outdoor gear a-la-New-Zealand places. Really, I have never seen so many in my life ! Gary would be in heaven, in fact, Gary could make a whole career out of checking out their stock and supply chain.
We had lunch at the Tap Room - specialising in beer on tap and steaks. We tried the (brewed in Greytown, on the West Coast) Monteith's beers - Summer and Radler - and now we're hooked. The Summer variety was incredibly complex, I never thought I'd catch myself using vino-jargon on beers... Initially it was quite grassy and fresh, but then I was hit with a complex fresh seafood and fruit flavour. We've bought a six-pack of the Radler and drunk our way through most of it - yup, it's pretty good stuff.

Zack was getting tired at this point but we boarded a tram to do the little circuit around town. He behaved abominably, yelling and wriggling and refusing to sit down. In the end we got a new driver and he stopped the tram and came over and gave Zack a lolly. It managed to shut him up for a while. We got off at the Arts centre, in time to see it close. We headed over to Andy & Jo's place for dinner - they live in an area with mostly new houses (they call it a "sub division"). Their place is beautifully designed inside, well chosen paint job and a lovely kitchen area. Andy whipped up some dinner, and we had a great eve catching up with them.