We made it to the Garden City!

After 26 hours of travel, we finally made it from Boulder to Christchurch, NZ.  Despite the long leg from Los Angeles to Sydney of 14 hours, and doing countless computations in my head of what time it really was to me, I did not feel all that jet lagged.  Both Laurie and I did not have the usual achy, fuzzy-in-the-head feeling we normally experience.

So we managed to get from the Christchurch airport to the hotel safely despite driving on the left side of the road.  It is very bizarre.  I am hoping that it will feel a little more normal after tomorrow's 4-hour drive to Dunedin.

We checked into our boutique hotel in the heart of the city and we are immediately impressed with the friendly nature of the people here.  A pleasant Sybil Fawlty gave us recommendations for a few choice restaurants nearby and then we were off to explore a bit of the city on foot in the last part of the afternoon.

As many of you know, Christchurch experienced some devastating earthquakes about 2 years ago and these traumatic events have taken a big toll on the city.  Nonetheless, the city appears to be bouncing back nicely although it will be 15-20 years before much of the city center is reconstructed.  One of the initial signs of the resiliency of the people was the construction of a shopping area using brightly colored shipping containers.  I've never seen anything quite like it.  Quake-proof and quirky and surprisingly charming.

Then it was on to the highly acclaimed Botanical Gardens, which are located less than a block from our hotel.  We really needed to stretch our legs after more than a full day of solitary confinement.  We both thought that these were some of the most amazing gardens we'd ever seen.

So you can guess where we'll be going for a run tomorrow morning...  That's all for tonight.  Hoping to see a penguin or two tomorrow.

(Remember that you can click on the picture to get a better view of it.)