Happy Birthday Wayne.

We left Hanmer Springs in the wee hours of the morning to head for Christchurch in order to get there in time for our 9am tour.

What a gorgeous city and what a great day we had.

We started at the Antarctic Centre where we entered the "South Pole" and experienced what a real snow storm in that part of the world would be like.  The storm went for about 5 minutes and despite wearing huge jackets, it was absolutely BITTER!!!!!!

Next to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.  This was a bit of a rush, as we had 5 different sites to visit on our tour.  They had lots of animals, but we made sure we got to see a kiwi.  Unfortunately, taking photos was not permitted, so I'll have to be happy with a postcard.

After leaving the Reserve, we headed out to Lyttleton Harbour where we took a cruise.  After Cook Strait, we were a bit concerned, but fortunately, it was all smooth sailing.  We were joined on our cruise by the playful Hector's dolphin.  It only grows to 1.4m and the babies are the same size as a football.

Next stop, the Gondola.  Mandy, being scared of heights, was sweating profusely after the 500m trip up the mountain, but she still managed to take plenty of photos.

Our final part of the tour was on the Christchurch tram.  It took us on a circuit of the beautiful city of Christchurch.  It is very English and there are lots of old historic buildings.  It is even situated on the river Avon.

We would love to come back and spend longer in this part of New Zealand.  It is truly beautiful.