Exploring Christchurch: Our First Bike Ride!

We finally got out on the bikes today. Yeah, we've been in New Zealand for 5 days total, but we also had 10 days of homelessness prior to leaving, which equated to almost no rides. Which equates to general grouchyness.

Mt Vernon pass in Port Hills, Christchurch

Thats Scott, and Christchurch behind him down there, and the ocean, wayyyy over there

We chose the hottest part of the day (11:30-2:30) to go ride, on what Christchurchians... or is it Christchurchites... were proclaiming to be the hottest day of the year. Seasonally speaking it is only the equivalent of June 16th in the Northern Hemisphere, but they seemed pretty fired up on the weather. It was 85ish, but the sun is stronger down here (a holy ozone is to blame) and there's some humidity to factor in as well.

Anyways, it was a beautiful ride in spite of the heat, and I got to meet these cool little birds along the way. They're super pretty- black with white "shoulders" and when they fly, white stripes on their wings. Besides their good looks, they are great to listen to. If there's 2 or more in a bunch, it sounds like mama bird gave each one of them a different flute to play in no melodic way. Kind of like avian R2D2s. Boo bee ba be bo boo. I'll try to get a picture and/or recording in the future.

Lastly, beach pictures from Sumner (approx. 10 minutes from our new flat):