Back to Christchurch: Meet the Parents

Roger, Gareth, Joan, Jone, Hal and Sara

Jone peering in the window of the restaurant where we are eating later that night.

Boys playing chess in the square

That is where the penguins were......riding on the top of the bus

On Saturday May 16th we got up, ate some breakfast and headed out to meet Richy and Sharon for lunch at a cafe outside of Christchurch. It was great to see them again. We told them all about our trip around the Island. Richy and Sharon had enjoyed reading the blog. They had bought a New Zealand book for each of us, and we gave them their Chilly, and a bottle of wine from the Framingham vineyard. We promised to return to New Zealand some day. We also invited them to visit us in Minnesota. We told them to come in the summer though. :) After lunch, we checked into our hotel, and went out for a walk. We came upon a flea market where Mary and Jone bought a few last souvenirs. Hal and Gareth decided to climb a tree. I am sorry I didn't have my camera since Hal had a bit of a time getting down out of the tree. Gareth helped him down. We checked out the restaurant that we had made reservations at for the night, and went home. Hal and Gareth went to the airport to pick up Joan and Roger Short. We were excited to finally meet Gareth's parents. Now, if you have seen the movies, Meet the Fokker's, and Meet the Parents, you can imagine how Sara and Gareth felt. ha-ha-ha-ha. It turned out to be nothing to worry about. The parents got along very well. We chatted for awhile, and then walked about 6 blocks to the restaurant, "Cooking With Gas". The food was very good, and the company even better. We packed, went to bed, said our goodbyes to Roger and Joan, and left for the airport on Sunday morning. Sara and Gareth hung out with us for about an hour until we left. Airport goodbyes are always sad. It will be a long time until we see Sara and Gareth again. (unless we decide to travel to some unknown region this summer or fall :) We flew into Auckland where it was raining, took a bus to the harbor and ate lunch. We boarded the plane to LAX at 9:30pm and settled in for a long ride. Of course, Andy always seems to take pictures of Hal and I sleeping. If you would like to see them, send me an email. You will not find them on this blog.......sorry andy. hahahahaha. We hope you have enjoyed this blog. When the time came, I certainly was not ready to come home. New Zealand is an amazing place!! You should check it out sometime. Or as the Kiwi's say, "Cheek it out" Good Day All !