Arthur's Pass, Christchurch, Louisa and Euan

We left Hokitika on March 24th and headed for Christchurch.  We drove from the west coast to the east coast through Arthur's Pass.  It was the most beautiful drive we have had yet.  We pulled over many times to take pictures and stopped at Castle Hill to look at the stunning rocks jetting out of the green grassy hill side.

Eddie was in a photographer's paradise

Castle Rock

When we were staying with Rachel and Scott in Greymouth, they told us about their friends in Christchurch and how they would be great people to stay with while we are there.  Rachel told them about us and they agreed to have us stay with them on March 24, 25, and 26.  On the day we left Kawahaka Lodge we got a voice mail from Louisa saying they were going to be out of town that day and most of Sunday but that we could still stay at the house!  They left a key and a note telling us to make ourselves at home.  That is some trust! We knew they were going to be awesome people not only because they trusted us to stay at their house before they even met us, but also because their movie and book collection was awesome!  Louisa and Euan arrived at their house on Sunday evening just in time for church.  We had a great time at church with them and the message was exactly what we needed to hear.  God usually works that way.  Louisa and Euan had to work on Monday so Eddie and I took their bikes to Hinley Park and went to the public gardens.


While in the park I gave Devon another little photography lesson. As you can probably gather from the pictures below, Devon really likes flowers and really likes taking pictures of flowers. Her photography skills are improving, she must have a good teacher.

Not a great shot,but it proves we rode bikes!

Ducks in a row

Devon and I cleared some Ivy for my parents before we left for NZ and it was hard work, but not as hard as this would have been to remove!

This was titled, "wrestling" ....

Fall in the South Island

Louisa got us some kiwi snacks that were so yum.  They call candy, lollies, in New Zealand.  Any candy is a lolly.  She bought us a lolly called Pineapple Lumps.  We love Pineapple Lumps. They don't have cookies in New Zealand, they have biscuits.  They look like small chocolate chip cookies but are hard.  They have one brand of biscuits called Cookie Time and they are bigger and more soft like an actual cookie.  She got us both Chocolate Chippie Biscuits and Cookie Time biscuits. She also made kiwi dip which we love.  This is what Urban Dictionary defines kiwi dip as:

Kiwi Dip:   the two only needed ingredients are simple as and it's easy to make.
nestle reduced cream + maggi onion soup = kiwi dip.
merely mix the two together and you'll have what all the ex-pats are craving as they depressively dip their chips into some fancy hummus, when really, all they want is some good ol' kiwi dip.

How phone calls to mum from nz ex-pats usually end:
steve: ...rashuns, burger rings, l&p, marmite, perky nana, five packs of pineapple lumps, moro... NO, not mars bars. MORO. anything cadbury. oh yeah, chuck in some kiwi dip and salt and vinegar chips to go with 'em, alright? ...yeah, yeah, okay, love you mum. bye.

That definition is so true!

Here is the description of Pineaple lumps on the back of the bag:

Back in 1935 who would have thought a goofy flavour combination of Pineapple and Chocolate could work so brilliantly? Kiwis did, and a good job, too.   That's why our Pineapple Lumps lolly is a national treasure.

Euan and Louisa let us take books and DVDs with the promise of a return visit to Christchurch on our way back north.  We are loving all the great reading we are doing. Some of the books we have read on this trip have been life changing for Eddie and I.  We are learning so much and feel so thankful for the opportunity to have all these experiences.