Once a year a, little town, just north of Christchurch called Rangiora becomes the biggest deal in New Zealand as it hosts the countries biggest car show. This also happens to be where Ian and Hayley live, and with Ian being a big ‘rev head’ it was a great excuse to go along and join them for a day at the show. There was one more little surprise up Ian’s sleeve as he fired up his classic old British made Humber. He wasn’t showing the car in the show, but it still got plenty of attention in the car park. The show was packed with awesome cars that had been lovingly restored. New Zealand is an oasis for classic old cars and they are absolutely everywhere. We saw some brilliant classic 80’s tv show cars including a dukes of Hazard Dodge Charger, a perfect Kit from Knight Rider and an A team van! Samuel was loving all of the classic American cars, which to him were all the characters from his favourite film Cars starring Lightning McQueen. Samuel meets Sheriff from Cars.
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It is already becoming clear that we will have so much to do here that one big post at the end of our stay will be too massive. We will also likely be 'off the grid' with regards to wifi for some of the journey so want to stay on top of things! Our Gold Coast chapter had finished, in fact our Australian chapter had finished and we were sad to be leaving, but excited to be heading to New Zealand. Well, as excited as one can be when the alarm chimes at 5.30 am. Weary kids in tow we left the house for the airport to catch our Jet Star flight to Christchurch. As we descended from cruising altitude to start our landing run we got to see what was waiting for us beneath the cloud cover. Samuel was excited to see the snow topped peaks of mountains and immediately shouted…. “I want to go there, I want to go there again, I love the snow, don’t I Daddy.” However Lauren countered his enthusiasm with….. “No I be sick again, I don’t want to go there, I be sick again won’t I mummy.” The stunning vistas of New Zealand come into sight. Clearly they were drawing on their experience and memory of our trip to the top of the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. At least we now know for sure, that even at this young age they are remembering some of their travels!
The airport was just a wonderful experience. Completely empty and staffed by friendly customs officials, YES, they do exist! Leaving Sydney.So much for me staying on top of the blog and posting more regularly, tough old work this blogging lark! We left Sydney, but not before we made some time to have a BBQ picnic in Centennial Park with Mike and Faye. The BBQ pits are free and gas operated, and as Dan and Mike found out, double as a great wicket for a little game of tete a tete cricket. The kids were of course all in the playground just 10 - 15 metres away, so everybody was happy. Dan also managed to get a ‘liquid’ lunch in with old mates Dan and Dan. Yes, the 3 Dans were in Manly Wharf Bar, which is just about the best place in the world you could ever have a beer. Greg and Alison also made the trek over the bridge to visit us in Paddington before we left town too. So, of course there were beers and wine in the park, more playing, a BBQ for the kids and an awesome Tapas dinner in Paddington for the adults. Our last night found us back at Robyn and Michaels for Fajitas on the deck overlooking Bondi and a swim in their pool, oh life was tough! I wonder why we loved Sydney so much?
Once back from Kangaroo Valley we had a city to explore and a certain visitor to prepare for, so we headed into the CBD for some sights and shopping. Of course we headed straight to Circular Quay to see the most iconic landmarks in Australia, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Kaitlyn and Sophia have put together some quick facts about these two engineering marvels, get your fact fix below! Sydney Harbour Bridge -Width 49m -Height 134m -Nickname, 'The Coat Hanger' -Construction dates, 28th July 1923 - !9th January 1932. Sydney Opera House
-Construction dates, 1st March 1959 - 20th October 1973 -Height 65m -Architect, Jorn Utzon |
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February 2017
AuthorsAll of us will at some stage enter our experiences and favourite stories. |