my apologies for the long delay between posts of late - we are still alive and living it up in new zealand, never fear. the big thrill for bryan this week was the much-anticipated arrival of about 70 of our movies (plus some great treats that my parents threw in) that we, of course, have not had access to for the last 14 months. so when i threw open the curtains last weekend and decided to spend my warm spring saturday dayhiking in the port hills, i found that i would be going alone, as he could not be convinced to leave his comfortable position on the couch. not a problem - i think a person is entitled to spend their saturday however they see fit, though i have been reminding him all week about the fantastic experience that he missed out on.

my hike was absolutely perfect, the kind of little day trip that i'd easily repeat with a friend (or husband!) who's up for a little activity on a nice day. i took the bus out to lyttleton, then walked up the popular and unexpectedly steep bridle path that the early settlers used to climb over the hills between the port and the plains where they would eventually build their homes. this path connected me with the crater rim walkway, part of which we explored back in march, which i followed out to godley head, where the remains of a WWII base can be seen. from there, i took a coastal track down to taylor's mistake, a quiet little beach where lifeguards were training, and ultimately along to sumner, a long and popular beach with a boardwalk that we've visited with friends quite a lot in last few months. i finished my walk around 4 pm, purchasing an ice cream for the remaining barefoot stretch down to the bus stop at the far end of the beach. it's as if i'm just now discovering that i live on the coast, having spend last summer exploring the city itself and not bothering to venture out too far in the cold of winter, and i am embracing this discovery wholeheartedly.

on tuesday i was fortunate enough to join the teenage girls from the church youth group on a mini-retreat to the french settlement of akaroa, about an hour and a half from christchurch along very windy roads, where they had rented a beautiful house that overlooked the harbor. i arrived halfway through the 3-day retreat, so we checked out of the house the morning after i arrived, and then drove to the north side of the peninsula to spend the day soaking up the sun in okains bay. it was the middle of the two-week school holidays, so i was surprised to find that the only other people at the beach were so far away that i had to squint to see them clearly. i got a lot of reading done, received my first sunburn of the season, and even managed to get in the frigid water up to my waist. good, good times.

next (mini) adventure: biking the 40-km christchurch to little river rail trail, which should be gorgeous, though i've heard rumors that it's still blocked by a landslide because of the earthquake. speaking of earthquakes, we're still getting aftershocks from the quake 5 weeks ago, generally at the rate of one a day that's large enough to feel. what a strange experience.

-rachel