The long haul- Chicago to Auckland to Christchurch

This has been out longest flight ever. Air New Zealand non-stop from Chicago, O’Hare to Auckland. 15 1/2 hours. We were very surprised to discover it was not bad at all. We left at 7:30 pm. They served us dinner. We watched a few movies and then when it was about 11:00pm (our time), the turned off the lights and most people slept. We slept until about 4:30am- New Zealand time, so I have no idea what time my body thought it was, but we felt refreshed and awake. Had breakfast and then it soon was time to land. I love the designs on the Air New Zealand planes. Very cool tribal graphics.


It was a quick passport control process, grab bed our bags and went through customers where they did inspect our hiking boots. We received a , “great job on cleaning your boots” from the inspector. It was a 15 minute walk from the international terminal to the domestic terminal, which was a welcomed event after being on the plane. The sun was just rising and we had mild temps.
The airlines asked if we wanted an earlier flight to Christchurch, so we agreed and had a very short wait for the next flight which was about 1 1/2 hours.
Grabbed an Uber to our hotel and dropped off our luggage and off we walked to explore Christchurch. A 20 minute walk brought us to the main downtown area. We grabbed breakfast. It was now 10:45 am, we ate at 4:30 am, so we were hungry.






Into town to find a very nice pedestrian area and walkway along the river. There were several outdoor cafes, food trucks and two Sunday arts and crafts markets. Had delicious chocolate sorbet and roamed around. They are re-developing the downtown area. It reminded us of areas of Austin.
We then headed towards the Botanical Gardens. It is their version of Central Park and very beautiful. Flowers blooming, giant redwood and eucalyptus trees, fountains and rose gardens. Everyone was out and about. It was beautiful sunny day in the 70s.



Back to our hotel- the Merivale Manor for a much needed shower.

 Met up with Jessica and Kevin for dinner. The Active Adventure starts tomorrow.

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