Day one, on the town in CHCH.

The Art Centre market in downtown CHCH.








Celebration Centre Lions rugby league team.
Day one in Christchurch was a lot of fun. We arrived at 10 a.m. and were met by Murray, Nancy, Renee, Corey, and Jackson Watkinson. After loading our gear, we headed to 'brunch' at the Crown Plaza hotel. It was great to catch up with everyone and settle in. At lunch, Corey invited us to a CC Lions rugby game, but it wasn't until later in the day. What to do to kill time? Go shopping! We headed down to the Christchurch Art Centre, with Pastor Raul and Sharon, to see the sights and buy a few local crafts.
Then, after driving in circles for quite some time, we found our way to the rugby league game. It was exciting and fast-paced and we were all into it- then Murray tells us later that night that the team had played poorly and they were missing a few key players. We thought it was good! And they still won.
That night, we picked up some takeaway Indian from Tandoori Palace and headed to our apartment at the campgound. We were all tired, and had a hard time adapting to the time difference. We were all in bed around 9 p.m., ready to go to church in the morning and really get the trip going.