Arriving in Christchurch

Saturday, February 5, 2011

On Saturday, We left Queenstown  for Christchurch. It was a 7 hour drive away, but actually went by pretty fast. Once we got to Christchurch, you could see evidence damage of the earthquakes, but the city was actually in pretty good shape. In Christchurch we went to a fun little market where I got most of my souvenir shopping finished. After the market we got some pizza and then went to a concert for Wantangi Day which is like their 4th of July.   It was so great to be apart of that event here in New Zealand. Especially when it is such big event here. There was lots of music. The New Zealand choir sang a few songs and the New Zealand Army Band performed some great tunes. There was even entertainment during the intermission where they performed a rugby rap. It was so sweet as. During the second half there were swings and ballroom dances and some great jazz music. It was just a great experience to be apart of and see their celebration. At the end their were fireworks. It was a great start to our visit in Christchurch.

On Sunday, we went to a ward down there. It was fast and testimony meeting and I felt right at home. It is amazing how no matter where in the world you are you can feel at home at church. One lady bore her testimony about the potential the youth have and it brought me back to my memories of EFY and my kids there. I love the youth so much and they really are great examples and have strong testimonies. I really hope I get to be a counselor again this year.

After church, we drove up to Lyttleton which over looks the ocean and is a great place to see the view of Christchurch. There were lots of old castle like buildings and one of the only remaining time-ball stations in the world. We also drove down and saw one of the beaches. It was all quite a sight to see.

Once we got back to the motel, we made taco salad and had tim tam slams. It was so much fun and nice to cook a meal after eating out so much. Tim tam slams are one of the best things ever. You doing by biting off each end of a tim tam and then sipping your hot chocolate through it and trying to catch it before the cookie falls in the hot chocolate.We then played dome games and watched a movie. it was a pretty great Sunday.