Auntie Josephine and Ian come to stay

We have just had a lovely week with Auntie Jo and Ian. They had a few days staying with us in Christchurch and explored the surrounding areas. Auntie Jo and I managed to get out to go swimming at Jellie Park which is the 50m outdoor pool. It was a lovely hot evening so it was good to make the most of it. On Friday, after picking up the campervan A Jo and Ian headed out to Akaroa. We followed on later that evening after I had been for a long awaited haircut!

We stayed at the most fantastic campsite, complete with pool and the most unbelievable view from the tent door!

Dan and I arrived at the site at about 9.15pm and found A Jo and Ian's van to be welcomed by a gorgeous meal! So we put up the tent and hopped in to the van, which was so swanky. It had absolutely everything you could need. I am quite fancying the idea of trugging round the North Island in one next Christmas! We had a nice natter and then eventually headed off to bed. Saturday was an early start, A Jo and I had to be down at the harbour for 8.15am as we were going.......SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS! After chasing them around the harbour for an hour we finally stopped and hopped in the water for a second time to see if they would hang around and play! To attract the dolphins and keep them interested you have to sing or make siren noises through the snorkel you are using! Well you can imagine the scene I am sure, 10 adults in the sea making siren noises through snorkels! But it worked and soon we were were swimming/bobbing in the clear waters under the clear blue skies, surrounded by inquisitve Hectors Dolphins and i can't put into words what it was like. It was just amazing, I was (shockingly) stuck for words. They swam literally 12 inches away from my face, when I put my face in the water I could see the swimming downwards and then back up towards me! We could have stayed in all day. Auntie Jo and I had a blast! Shame however that my waterproof camera has died. Will be taking it to the shop to have it looked at!

So after an hour or so in the water we headed back to town and met Ian and Dan and headed back to the campsite for a change and spot of lunch. It was so hot and sunny that we had to hide away in the van for lunch as the sun was burning. After lunch, still hot we wandered into town and had a good old look round and a yummy much needed ice cream! The walk back up the hill to the campsite was a killer and we all had to have a rest before heading out to dinner later in the evening! We tried a restaurant that we had been meaning to try for ages, and it certainly lived up to the reviews! It was comforting to know that we had the walk back up the hill at the end to burn off some of those calories. We were also able to do a bit of star gazing, being treated to a totally clear sky!

Unfortunately as with all good things it must come to an end so on Sunday morning we packed up camp! Thankfully we weren't dashing off and we managed to squeeze in a bush walk (quite made up!) and fish and chips on the sea front before doing last minutes supplies shopping and heading off to Okains Bay for some swimming in the sea! vAnd it was glorious. My embarrasing confession was that this was my first dip in the sea since arriving here! And I nearly missed out this time but Auntie Jo braved it and I followed. It was SO gorgeous! We also managed to get in a bit of sunbathing too, although we were all still plastered in factor 20 and factor 3o! But then we had to pack up and say our goodbyes. It was really sad to go our separate ways, I had had such a wonderful time catching up and had so much more to chat about but A Jo and Ian had a jam packed itinerary that they needed to get stuck into and Dan and I had a whole stack of washing to get stuck into! So we said good bye and we're looking forward to hearing all the adventures!