Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm already celebrating!  It's our last Tuesday, and we were off to make the most of it.  We've had tickets to go punting for months now, and we conveniently booked our trip down the Avon River based on the weather forecast, sunny and 71.  We awoke to clouds, darn it!  All morning, as we researched the activities we're planning for the north island, the clouds kept rolling in, and then miraculously, as we stepped out the door to start our day at noon, the clouds drifted away, and the sun burst through!  Perfect!

Punting is an English tradition.  A punt is a flat bottomed boat without a keel, that is propelled by the punter at the back of a boat, holding a pole.  The trip was 30 minutes and takes place along the scenic Avon River.  It was so beatiful as we glided through the clear water in the warm sunshine, through the Botanic Gardens.

The duck that bit my finger right before we left...

 

The Avon River and its many bridges, each one is different!

 

Chch famous Willow trees, apparently planted from the willows by Napoleon's grave

 

Native NZ Cabbage trees

 

 So relaxed, we had the whole boat to ourselves!

 

  

Our Chilean punter, Vicente

After our punt down the Avon, we took a brief stroll through the Botanic Gardens for one last stop at the Canterbury Museum.  Here, we visited the Paua House.  In the 60s, a NZ couple began to decorate their house with paua shells, and before long there were over 1100 paua shells, all hand polished by the owner, adorning their entire lounge, as well as lots of other NZ souvenirs and knick-knacks.  They opened up their home for tourists, and it became nationally known.  In 1998 they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, and passed away shortly thereafter.  Their house in all its glory lives on, with the lounge nearly entirely entact!

 

Next, we headed to our beloved mall, The Palms, to run a few last minute errands, and grab a Guinness, of course.  The Palms was the first mall we ever visited in NZ, where we found instant comfort in KMart (where I've never really shopped in the U.S.), and where we spent many evenings at either the movies or our favorite restaurants there.  Today we toasted to St. Pat, and headed home to start packing!

 

Bye Palms!