We arrived in New Zealand a few days before the start of the tour to give us time to explore Christchurch on our own. Once we got over the uneasy feeling of driving on the left side of the road, we checked out the "cool" International Antarctic Center (home base for many expeditions), but other than that, found that we could easily reach everything that we wanted to see within the city by either walking or using mass transportation. Most of the regional tours, including an afternoon cruise we took on Pegasus Bay to see the rare Hector's dolphin, conveniently depart from Cathedral Square in the heart of Christchurch.

Christchurch Skyline	Posh Hotel Room	Outside our Hotel	Christmas Festival Outside Ballantynes
Mr. and Mrs. Claus	Tinkerbell	Clowning Around	Bridge of Remembrance
The Avon River	Hagley Park Rose Garden	Hagley Park Rose Garden	Hagley Park Rose Garden
Flower	Water Fountain	Catching Some Z's	Christchurch Steeple
Giant Chess Set	Day Out with Grandma	Lyttelton Port	Lyttelton Port
The Rare Hector's Dolphin	Cold and Windy	Pegasus Bay	Aw Crap!
Bird Dropping Stalactites	Sail Boats	Danny DeVito Crossing	Emperor Penguin
International Antarctic Centre	Snowmobile	Christmas Festival Fireworks