Following Lisa’s Footsteps; published in France.

The story of Clive and Trish following Lisa’s footsteps around the world has just been published in France in C’est Dit magazine.

The magazine has made a donation to the charity in payment for the story, which has also been sold to the UK magazine Woman on the same basis and should be published shortly.

For those who can read French, you can read the article here: C’est Dit.pdf

To start at the beginning…

Because this is a blog, entries will always appear with the most recent addition at the top.

If you would like to read Clive and Trish’s story from the beginning, please start – – HERE – and read from the entry at bottom of the page upwards. Then scroll back down to the bottom and click the << newer posts option at the bottom of the page to move forward.

April 1st – Last day in New Zealand

Got up, packed, and went to the aquarium. The aquarium was created by a guy called Kelly Tarltons; it had been his dream to put the New Zealand marine life on display for the public. In 1985 he made his dream come true by creating the first tunnel that people could walk through with sharks, rays and fish swimming overhead. The penguins were great–my favorite–and we spent about three hours there before returning to the city centre. We walked back to the hotel where we had a drink before travelling the 20k to the airport.

This was it, after some 36 days we were on our way home having followed Lisa’s footsteps. The journey had been inspiring, we would probably never have come if it hadn’t been for Lisa, she had been living her dream and we were dragged along for the ride. An amazing country, incredibly diverse, lovely friendly people and just great the way they have space for each other and respect their heritage. One day I’m sure we will be back to see more and revisit some of the amazing places we have seen. Until then we have great memories, made new friends, and seen for ourselves exactly what Lisa saw and loved so much.

March 31st – Back to Auckland

Scott’s birthday. Travelled to Christchurch airport to fly to Auckland before coming home. Managed to get an earlier flight and arrived an hour an twenty minutes later and checked into the Renaissance Hotel. Only have 24 hours here so decided to do a bus tour in the afternoon to see the sights; visited most of the key places including the museum, had some great views of the city from the rim of the volcano. Also did a whistle stop visit to the museum but nowhere near long enough. Had booked dinner in the Sky Tower for the evening. Got up there by 6.15 for a two hour experience, this is the highest building in New Zealand and the food and views over the city were really fabulous. We then dropped down into the casino which was absolutely buzzing. Lost a few dollars and walked back to the hotel.

March 30th – Last day in Christchurch

Last day in Christchurch so, taking some hints from Lizzie and Dave, we hired a car for the day. After a visit to see if artist Maxine Burney was in her studio-which she wasn’t-we popped into the beautiful art gallery in Christchurch. It was, for us, disappointing, unlike the Arts Centre; I guess we are just a bit old fashioned and didn’t get the fluorescent tubes on the floor! Or the underpants with different fruit in the fly hole. We had hoped to see some nice pictures! We then drove out towards the coast passing Charlie B’s backpackers where Lisa stayed. We were heading to a little place called Sumner. We stopped at ‘The Rock’ and had a fabulous breakfast, best so far, in a little outside café across from the beach. The weather had really picked up and we went for a long walk along the sea front and onto the beach to explore a large cave. Drove to the ‘Gondola’ which is a cable car outside Christchurch, took the ride to the top where the views were outstanding. From the top we could see either side of the hill, into Lyttelton harbour and also across the Canterbury plain and Christchurch. We decided to drive into Lyttelton and onto the Governors Bay, we then drove back towards Christchurch but missed a turn and ended up going round in a loop and seeing some magnificent views of Lyttelton harbour.

In the evening we went to a restaurant near the hotel called the Octagon Live. It was originally a church but bought by the Slade  family and converted into a music venue in 2005. There was a great organ that was played by a blind guy, then our waitress was introduced as a ballerina and classical violinist; she recently had played the lead role as Cinderella and was about to leave for New York to perform. She played the piano beautifully and then bought us our sweet! Amazing talent and a lovely evening, Lee!!

March 29th – Exploring Christchurch

After a good night’s sleep in a nice big bed, went into town for a look around. The Cathedral was right outside the hotel and was stunning; we climbed the 134 steps to get a great view of the city. Came down, had a coffee and continued our walk around. There was a great street entertainer in the square so we watched him juggle, tell jokes and swallow a sword, he was very good. We walked to the Arts Centre in the old university which was heaving with lots of amazing craftwork, paintings and all sorts of stuff. We went to find an artist called Maxine Burney, Lisa had bought one of her pictures in 2002 for $50 and said she hoped to hang it in her own place one day. Unfortunately she was not open as her father was ill but we saw some of her work in the window which was lovely. We came out of the Arts Centre and got on the tram for a tour of the city with commentary that was very interesting. We got off at Regent Street and both went to the hairdressers before heading back to the hotel. Lisa’s friend Lizzie –Jean’s daughter– now lives in Christchurch and will be getting married in a couple of weeks to Dave from Yorkshire. They picked us up and took us back to their home and cooked us a nice dinner, we skyped Jean and John who leave for NZ tomorrow to come out to the wedding.

March 28th – Back to Christchurch

Got up early for our trip and got to the whale watchers at 7.30 to find the trip had been canceled because of the poor weather. It was still dull and overcast but looked quite calm although we were in a bay. We had a drive onto the peninsula and looked at the views but it wasn’t getting better. We had breakfast in a little café and decided there was no point in hanging around in the bad weather and would head back towards Christchurch. Weather didn’t seem to be getting any better so rang the hotel we were due at tomorrow and decided to drop the van off a day early. Kea drove us to the Herutage Hotel in Christchurch – very nice. Checked in and went for a swim in the spa. Watched Jenson Button win the Melbourne Grand Prix and walked over to a little Irish bar for dinner.