Cathedral Square Christchurch

The obvious highlight of Cathedral Square is the Anglican church that sits prominently in the middle of it.



We got lucky and were there during the Festival of Flowers.



Normally you can pay a few bucks to walk to the top of the bell tower for a few view, but we paid a few bucks to get inside and check out some amazing florals.



The highlight was the floral carpet that ran the entire length of the center aisle towards the alter.



The church itself was quite lovely and had some beautifully detailed walls.



Like you'd expect, no shortage of beautiful stained glass.



The alter area had some really neat murals and designs.



There were so many types and colors of flowers that I'd never seen before.



Purple and black was an interesting color combination.



Each of the individual arrangements was its own work of art that depicted some theme.



The flower blanket was really cool....



...all the different colors and textures and heights and smells...



...if I was rich, I'd have a new one made for me every few weeks...



Some of the plants and flowers didn't even look real.



I'm really inspired by this pink & purple combination. I'm still gathering ideas for how to decorate my office at the new house.



Can't be a blog post without a picture of us!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Headed back to make more dinners tonight!

Downtown Christchurch

We enjoyed Auckland, but the South Island was where out trip was at & we were excited to get there. We few down to Christchurch & eventually made a loop on the south end of the South Island before coming back to spend a few more nights in ChCh. We just had 1 night, but I'm glad we took it because the weather was spectacular!



Downtown Christchurch is a very quaint little area & we started out by walking down this pedestrian mall waiting for the trolley to come along. There were lots of outdoor restaurants and some beautiful flower displays along the way.



As we approached the Avon River, there was a great memorial over the Bridge of Remembrance to honor New Zealand's soldiers in World War I.



The Avon River flows along at serene and peaceful pace and just adds so much ambiance to the area.



The river banks were lined with all sorts of beautiful trees- some of which I'd never seen anything like before.



The bridge itself was filled with a few kids trying out urban street tricks.



It was a perfect weather day & there were so many people- tourists and ordinary Kiwi's alike, out enjoying the sun on the river banks.



We watched several ducks diving fully underwater to search for their lunch.



We made our way over to these restaurants across from the River and enjoyed our own lunch.



Another peaceful scene down by the river- reminds me of days gone by...



Another beautifully manicured little park right on the river's edge.



Fountains & flowers! Usually when things are this beautiful, you have to pay admission to the grounds or gardens.



We finally caught sight of the little trolley that does a loop around downtown and stops at all the neat tourist areas.



Back down Worchester Street towards Cathedral Square- unfortunately the front of the cathedral was under renovations.



There was some really neat and interested old architecture & I loved all the neat arcade type of shops on the ground floor.



More flowers and greens pace inside Cathedral Square.



Beautiful blue skies & abundant sunshine- it was the perfect day to walk the city and see it up close.



Such an excellent place to people watch- lots of tourist, lots of vendors, lots of local, lots of birds and entertainers and food and music.



I'm such a sucker for clocks...I love how they all do the same thing and can be so beautifully different.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Spending Mother's Day with our wonderful moms!

Spring in the Park

Try to sneak a few personal posts about my crazy life in here & then we'll get back to New Zealand! After getting back from vacation & among the midst of moving and packing, I tried to get the dogs out to the park as much as possible to get out some energy. They are both very excited when we turn towards the park & start scanning the fields when I open up the hatch.



Mia has turned into a first class little pointer- there are tons of birds out there for her to practice on most evenings.







Lots and lots of chasing....



Another pretty point.



Puppies look so silly running through the fields.



Even Zoe was getting her run on this afternoon.



The one great thing is that Mia pretty much sticks close to Zoe and doesn't wander off too far.



Lots of puppy smiles...



Mia sees Zoe running towards me and comes running right behind her.



Zoe's face is almost completely white now, but she's still got tons of energy to run and chase.

Photos taken April 6, 2010 Mia exactly 10 months old

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Can't wait to enjoy this weekend- it's our first without wall-to-wall plans other than work on the house.

Bayflats Lodge in Seadrift

Oh, mercy! Another week has come and gone on my neglected little blog. I'll quit complaining and offering excuses and just blog! I wanted to show you around the super cool lodge we stayed at on our awesome fishing trip- Bayflats Lodge in Seadrift Texas. Dad scored some off-season rates & there was only 1 other group of guys there with us. H & I shared this stand-alone cottage with bunk beds for quite a few people & a little living room.



There is a great outdoor dining area where everybody gathers in the evenings to start the drinks & receive their scrumptious appetizers.



The lodge isn't exactly on the water's edge, but it's very close. That was the only small drawback I saw- it would have been great to be right on the water & hear the waves. The owner & all of the staff were incredibly friendly & took great care of us.



I assume some nights they bust out the fire pit for entertaining. The lodge had tons of gear to borrow & they also do quite a bit of bird hunting during season.



The upstairs porch was a great place to sit and relax while they cleaned & packaged up all of our catch. The nice thing about having a guide is that somebody else cleans all the gear & takes care of all the fish while we showered to go home.



The inside of the lodge was also really nice & we enjoyed a 5-star meal on Thursday night after we arrived.



Gotta love a place with rocking chairs- something about them just soothes the soul.



Most of the rooms had bunk beds for guys outings, but they had some really awesome hunting & fishing decor on the walls- it even mad dad dance for joy.



Hubby wasn't too sure about all this fishing excitement....



Poor Brenda- she gets all of dad's leftover fishing gear....



Dad demonstrates how to use your time wisely to manicure your nails when not using your clippers to cut fishing line. All in all, we had a blast & I'd highly recommend Bayflats lodge to others. Hopefully we can make this an annual trip for the four of us.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Our shutters are being installed tomorrow.