Christchurch: "Had to be better than before."

The last time we were in Christchurch for any length of time was when we first arrived in NZ. We stayed with a family here who were nice but, as it turned out, not really a ton of fun. It was cold then and we found Christchurch to be generally boring and lame.
Needless to say, our expectations for this final week were not too high. We figured that we would enjoy our stay with Julian, Bridget, Seraphine, and Xavier because they are lovely and welcoming people. But beyond that we assumed we would just be busy getting rid of stuff and arranging ourselves for departure. Boy were we wrong! We've had a really fun time this week and may have even changed our view of Christchurch.
Last week we met an American couple (Hank and Marla) in Wanaka in the kitchen of the motor camp we were staying at. It turned out they are leaving from Christchurch on Wednesday too. We bumped into them again here in Christchurch and they invited us to come rock climbing with them on Friday. I was a bit intimidated because they are like bad-ass, super, travel-the-world-to-look-for-awesome-climbs, climbers and we are... well... not. But they led us to a place near by that was just right for beginning climbers and we had a blast!

After climbing we brought them back to Julian and Bridget's house and then we all took a bus downtown and had a night out. Several bars and a Kebab place later we took a cab home and we had (I assume) a great time!
Today we woke up feeling chipper and awake (or something) and went to have lunch with Rusty, Wal, Ami and Shannah. Rusty's parents live in Christchurch and so they all came up to visit and to give us one last farewell before we're off. It is always great to see them. Also we needed to give them back their camera and they are buying our phone so there was a practical element. By the way, that means that if you'd like to reach them you can call our number after we get home. they are lovely people and I'm sure they would love to chat. After lunch, a walk on the beach, and a stop at the local Savemart (like Goodwill but bigger) we came back to Bridget and Julian's house to set up for a Young Friends dinner/party that they were having. So we spent the night tonight hanging out with all the Christchurch young Quakers which was great. Better yet, we were able to give away a bunch of our stuff and we sold our car! Selling the car is a huge relief and it is nice to know that Susie is going to a good owner.
Rusty and Wal also came up to Christchurch in part because they are interested in attending Quaker meeting and they wanted to check it out. We will see them tomorrow at meeting and then we'll have lunch one last time before they head back to Waimate.
We have been so fortunate in our travels to meet wonderful people everywhere we have been. It is really sad to think that we will be leaving them all so soon. However, we try to take some solace in the fact that we have invited about half the population of New Zealand to come stay with us whenever they are in the States. We wholeheartedly hope that they all take is up on the offer.

Matt