Chch-Chch-Chch

Rachel, Heike and I at our first rugby game in Christchurch.

Hi everyone! This is just a picture post to wrap-up our last few months in New Zealand! As most of you probably know, Rachel and I are now back in the United States of America (as of yesterday) and still recovering from the jet-lag! It's been truly great to be back home (although we are still in LA so not our actual homes yet), but our time in New Zealand was a wonderful, one-of-a-kind experience that neither of us will ever forget. We still plan to post a few more things this week so the blog isn't over quite yet- check back soon and, as always, thank you for reading!

Heike, Jenn, Rachel and I at the game.

I believe they call this a "scrum."
Rugby is a confusing sport for me, so don't take
anything I say on the topic too seriously.

Half-time consisted of police dogs running down people
dressed as criminals (or real criminals???) and dragging them off the field.
It was awesome, and served as a warning to all those kids out there who
might be considering criminalism.

In the Tepuna o Waiwhetu (Christchurch Art Gallery).

A casual moment for Rachel and Daryl in between gallery viewings.

Not typically a utilizer of the thumbs-up pose, so this must have
been a really special moment for me?

At a coffee shop in Christchurch a few days before Daryl left New Zealand...

... and at dinner the next night.

Port Hills lookout over Christchurch City.
If you squint you can see the Southern Alps in the distance.

American flatmates at the lookout.

One of Christchurch's less abstract statues,
a bundle of wheat that lights up at night.
If that's not cool, I don't know what is.

Some of my friends from when I was working in Wellington
visited the South Island and stayed for a week in Christchurch!
At the same time our friend Rike visited. They got along cuz they
all had Germany in common.

Christchurch Cathedral in Cathedral Square, Christchurch.

We took the Germans up to the Port Hills lookout, where they
were completely unimpressed by this "castle."
Apparently the New Zealand idea of a castle is a joke
compared to the ones in Germany. Pfft.

Port Hills.

At the lookout.

We took a roadtrip to Hanmer Springs to
hang out in the hotsprings for an afternoon.

Florian.

Rachel, Me, Marco (who was completely unaware
of the game "marco-polo" until I informed him)

Oh New Zealand, how typical.

Rike and Marco made us all a version of Mulled wine which is a really
common/traditional cold weather drink in Germany.

Another cold night spent indoors, leads to a lot of this sort of thing...

Saying goodbye to Flo and Marco :(

At the All Blacks (New Zealands National Rugby Team) vs. Italy

The All Blacks!
They are pretty much like superheroes in NZ, where Rugby is the
national sport and insanely popular.

A great night (although FREEZING). Rike left a few days after
this and it was sad saying goodbye because she was the first
friend we made in NZ. Hopefully we'll see each other again someday!

For the 4th of July, obviously no one else was
celebrating, so we decorated our flat and barbecued to
get into the holiday spirit.

Homemade food is really exciting for poor backpackers.

Then my friend Steve (Irish) visited so I got to see
him one last time before leaving the country!

Our last night out with good friends!

And finally, saying goodbye to Henny (Dutch), the head of reception
at Vagabond Backpackers where we worked for the last few months.