We entered New Zealand at Auckland which is on the North Island and needed to get to Christchurch on the South Island, which was our holiday destination. A quick transfer from the International terminal to the domestic one took place (there are shuttle buses but since we were in a hurry, we got into a cab for the 5 minute drive) and we got ourselves tickets on the next plane bound for Christchurch. In the remaining time at the airport, we called up our bed and breakfast hosts at Christchurch to confirm our arrival (we had to cancel them the previous day because of the cancelled plans and weren't sure till the very end if we'd actually make it through on the next day) and learnt that they were full. Dismay set in, before they graciously offered to check with other B&B hosts to see if they had rooms available. When we called up again 10 minutes later, we were given the address of our new hosts, and there was something to look forward to again in life.

We reached Christchurch at 9:00 PM having travelled close to 20 hours to get there. Surprise, surprise! It was still light outside due to the NZ summer. The drive from the airport to the B&B made us realise what we'd been missing all along at Hong Kong - it was the open spaces and green expanses, the bungalows and the villas. Not a single high rise building anywhere along the way, and when we finally arrived at Locarno Gardens, 25 Locarno Street, Opawa, it was to a very lovely cottage with a driveway and lawn.

But that was set right the very next day when Aileen discussed our wish list and then gave us some sage advice before helping us prepare a tour plan. Aileen was the true hostess: she'd been all around New Zealand and familiarised herself with its tourist attractions before she decided to open her B&B. She had all the required databases - motel directory, B&B directory, car-hire directory... everything! And she then began the long and arduous process of calling up motels in various towns and making reservations on our behalf - several motels were full up, and would suggest names of others in town which had vacancies. She even managed to get a splendid car-rental deal (We rented our car from David, a most genial Kiwi) for us at a time when there were simply no cars for hire available in Christchurch. Remember, this was summer in New Zealand, and the peak holiday season.

By the end of the planning session, this was our travel plan:

Christchurch lays out its charm. Click on the link to read on...