Robin’s Birthday Surprise - Christchurch

 In the series of birthday surprises, the first was that we got to fly Business Class in a very empty plane (30 passengers!) from Melbourne to Christchurch. Apparently the stars had aligned - a Qantas sale (who can pass that up? Certainly not Wallsy!) and an event, still to be revealed, in NZ. I was also presented with sweet treats, champagne, a qantas





















cap, qantas keyring and a birthday card. How’s that for a series of surprises!? 

The second surprise was that we are staying at the gorgeous Adina Heritage Hotel which I had admired last time we were here and staying over the road from this impressive old Government building that is now the Adina. Not only do I get to see inside this time, I get to sleep in one of its spacious studio apartments for two nights.

But that was not the only surprise, it was more importantly the fact that we actually managed to get into the hotel at 12:30am!  Initially faced with a locked door, no response to the intercom and our taxi driving off down darkened streets, a mildly worried Wallsy was forced to make a frantic phone call which  finally roused the night manager who opened the doors to two weary and relieved travellers. Liam, an Irish expat, then regaled us with places to visit on our forthcoming trip to Ireland in June, while he checked us in and showed us to our room!  

After all this excitement, we finally collapsed into our very comfortable king sized bed and turned the lights out at 1:30am, all of which resulted in a rather late, or should I say relaxed, start to our first day in Aotearoa, NZ. 

When we did emerge from our grand hotel, it was in search of lunch, which we found down a cute Christchurch laneway, in an Irish Pub called the Little Fiddle. We followed this with a coffee beside the river Avon, a wander through the rather magnificent library and the pop up museum, a walk along the aforesaid river, resplendent in autumn colour, and finally a happy hour drink in the rooftop bar at Mr Brightside, atop the Public Trust Offices. 

Returning to our hotel, we warmed up with a nice cup of tea and readied ourselves for the next surprise - dinner. We didn’t have far to go, as it turned out, because the restaurant tram was awaiting us just over the road from our accommodation. Many circuits of Christchurch, numerous courses of delicious food and far too many wines later, we disembarked, thankful that we only had to cross the road before we found ourselves at home. 

After a day of surprises, I am told there is more to come tomorrow, so it is now time for sleep as the alarm is set for 6am. 


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