Christchurch NZ - February 2009

We flew into Christchurch on Wednesday 25th February with Emirates Airlines. It was a very comfortable flight and I would have no hesitation in flying with them again. The food and drink service was good & the seats very roomy for economy cost. Ron & Di Beechey travelled with us and we spent our first day (Thursday 26th February) discovering the city of Christchurch.

We had a look at the markets and then found our way to the Gondola that overlooks Christchurch and Lyttelton Bay. The views were great until the fog set in which is something that happens fairly regularly apparantly. We were lucky that we went early enough to enjoy the views. After that we searched out the good discount shops and did some bargain shopping before meeting up with the rest of the Gosford Group - 12 of us in total from the Gosford Golf Club. That night we had dinner at the Rydges Hotel in Christchurch & met up with the whole golfing tour group and our tour manager who was organising the next 10 days of our holidays.

The next day (Friday 26th February) we had a brief tour of the city which included the local museum and the rose garden (that impressed me) before playing golf at Clearwater Golf Course. It was a cold, damp sort of a day but we did get our golf in at Clearwater. The course was being prepared for the NZ PGA Championship (to be held the following week) while we were there. We could not resist a photo with the bill boards and score board.

Saturday 27th February we played golf at Terrace Downs Golf Resort. We were unlucky enough to get an uncomfortable wet and foggy day & there was also a wedding being held at the Clubhouse which restricted our use of the Clubhouse. We had a delayed start because of the fog

and it rained on and off while we were playing. Some people were lucky enough to see some of the stunning views this course offers but I was one of the early starters and missed out because the fog was still settled in for the most of our game. We were very wet and bedraggled when we finished & had to settle for the downstairs recreation area after our game as the clubhouse area was booked for the wedding.

Sunday 1st of March we were transferred to Queenstown airport for our flight to Queenstown for our next golfing adventure. The skies had cleared and showed promise of some fine weather.