Our little church in Christchurch

All is well. We landed in Christchurch two days ago right at sunset, though it was so foggy the transition to darkness was muddled. Finding lodgings in a new city is always stressfull for us and this time was no exception. It was cold, visibility was poor and we kept having to leave the kids in the car whilst checking out places. I had plans in place, but they all fell through and we spent almost two hours in frustrating search when I had a brainwave!
I had once contacted a woman who had a house for rent outside of town. Only the house is actually a very old church from around 1880 or so. It was about 7:30pm when I called and I thought it was a very long shot, but she remembered me and yes it was vacant and she'd just 'shoot over' to get a fire going and make up the beds. We drove through the foggy dark way out into the country side and actually found it! And it was even better than I ever hoped. Absolutely beautiful, with the old wood and gothic windows and doors and three bedrooms with super comfy beds and the nave is a gourmet kitchen. A beautiful old pot bellied wood stove for heat. We were all so excited to be there, and it was less than the motel rooms we'd been looking at!!!
The next day, after we got Kaytea and brought her back, the fog lifted and my god, there are mountains in the background and a little river wending through the yard with old willow trees. Just stunning.
The family that runs it is so friendly and they homeschool their two boys! They live next door in the bigger, newer church. We have the smaller original one. It's smaller, but huge!
We just asked to stay an extra night, since we all love it so much. And they have kayaks and canoes to ply the little river with!
So yesterday in the afternoon we drove over to Akaroa, the little 'French' village on the Banks Penninsula. A major tourist draw and for good reason. For Krista and I the country side we drove through smote our hearts. It was the most beautiful land we've seen in a country chocked full of beautiful land. I won't try to describe it here, I'll get a few pictures up soon. The town of Akaroa was indeed charming and we had a lovely lunch with Kaytea, our first meal together, with little birds flitting inside to steal crumbs. We looked out over the harbor, with boats at anchor and a little lighthouse on the edge of the bay. I could go on.
Today we 'did' Christchurch, which is to say that we took the antique trolly around and went to the Cathedral and climbed the bell tower, we went to the Museum and the Art Center--which is a whole complex of shops and resturaunts made in the former Oxford College grounds--an astonishingly lovely place, then walked through Hagley Park and saw 150 year old trees that just took our breath away, and strolled along the Avon river. It was all beautiful and enriching and now we're all tired and maybe will just come back tomorrow. Kaytea and I are in the blessedly warm and cheap internet place whilst Krista tends the girls who are eating ice cream out in the cold autumn air.
More later............
love
rob