NZ - the Land of the small white hire car

After Mark's wedding the next stop was NZ to visit my parents, who had recently moved back there after almost 19 years in Australia, to purchase a fish and chip shop (the best in town ;P). Somehow I could always picture them owning a fish and chip shop.

We picked up our hire car - a small white Diahatsu Sirion. It was definitely different. Not the biggest car in the world but a very high driving position. Strange to drive but you get used to it. Following the directions from my parents "drive into town you can't miss it" we surprising had little trouble finding the shop. It was good to see the parents again after a couple of years.

The rest of the time was spent driving around checking out the sights of Timaru (no indy kart this time - see previous post) and catching up with the girls (Mum's sisters) and their kids. Its surprising to see how much they have all grown in the past 2 years (I am starting to sound old).

Also Tammie took the opportunity to pick up a snowboard, boots and bindings at a bargain price for our upcoming trips to La Plagne, France (Christmas) and Vail, Colorado (Feb 2006)!! Excellent!

After 4 days we'd had enough and drove back to Christchurch for our trip to Melbourne and wedding #3.