Christchurch

I woke up to the gorgeous view of the lake (see the extra photo) and hit the road to Christchurch to stay with friends (Gethyn and Amber) I met in Hanoi last year. They were at work until after 6pm so I had some time to kill. I went to the botanical gardens and walked around. Then I listened to some music in the van and somehow the battery went flat. I had to walk around the car park asking if anyone had jump leads. Finally I found an Argentinian guy and he was kind enough to help me. We weren't very successful but a mechanic came to our rescue and fixed the problem so I was able to drive to meet my friends, a little later than planned.

He still had time for Gethyn to take me for a drive in his pride and joy four wheel drive. There's an area of land near his house which was destroyed during the earthquakes and then flattened more recently so it's now his playground!

After all that excitement, we went for a delicious burger and I got to sleep in a real bed in a real house with wifi and power and everything! I slept so well!