July 16th, 2011 Akaroa, Blue Pearl, and Cute (but possibly vicious) Pets

Today, my family and I went to the city of Akaroa. Now, you must be wondering how we got there when we don't have a car (or not but thats fine) and the answer is...........we went on a "tour" which was held by an elderly man who's name I don't know. I don't really know if he even mentioned his name so..... Okay, I have to admit, this wasn't exactly a tour, it's more like a car ride with a chaffer who gives sporadic information. Well, the car is bigger, too.
Anyways, after 1 1/2 hours and two stops, we finally arrived at the beautiful Akaroa. The first store we wandered into was an awesome jewelry shop where all/most of the jewelry is made of real blue pearls. All of the things they sold was very stylish but relatively pricey. Then again, price didn't really seem to matter since you know that it's worth it. Here, the owners actually explain the process of extracting the pearl and told you how to tell the difference from the good and the best pearls. After browsing through other gift shops and jewelry stores, we came back to this shop and bought a ring, a pair of earrings, and two Abalone shells (abalones are where the amazing pearls come from). The website and email:
www.nzbluepearl.co.nz
pearls@nzbluepearls.co.nz

Once we exited the store, we began scanning the menus of local restaurants. Eventually, we ended up in a great (and kind of outdoor) Akaroa Fish and Chips place. Here, we had some delicious fish (and chips), a hotdog, some oysters, a cheeseburger, and clam chowder (and no, not like one of each. It's what everyone had put together).
So, since there were so many cute pets on this trip, I decided to donate a piece of a post for these little guys. Okay, the first animal was in the Blue Pearl shop and it was a super cute.

Wait a minute! Before you fall victim to it's awesomeness, be aware that you cannot/should not touch it. When I touched its nose, it growled at me and when my brother attempted to pet it, it barked at him!! That lowers its score on the cuteness scale but it's still amazingly cute no matter what!
Next up, we have this hyperactive bird that took forever to take a picture of it.

Sorry about the blurriness. It's like the bird just drank some coffee!! The third one we have here are the four cats at the fish and chips place.

Actually there was five cats in all but the last cat wasn't used to being around people. The other three cats were colored black and two of those cats were a mixed color of brown and black. I was allowed to feed these cats some leftovers which made my day. The last of the pets/animals are these attacking seagulls. They may not be very cute but they are amusing. One time, when my brother was about to throw a fry to the birds, a courageous gull snatched it out of his hands. We caught this on video but I don't exactly know how to upload videos. Only pictures. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Bye-bye!

July 14th, 2011 The Lord of the Rings Tour

Sadly, my close friend has passed away yesterday. My brother's G2 pen broke, unfortunately. The part that connects the pen together broke while it was connected so it cannot be repaired. R.I.P. Mr. G2 Pen. May the rest of your days be filled with drawings and words.

Since the tour people didn't cancel (finally!!!) we got to go on this amazing and scenic tour. Our fantastic tour guide was named Paul. Personally, I prefer Katie as my tour guide but Paul did provide us with short (and funny) videos and information about the movie. Even though my family and I aren't that big of a fan, we did enjoy this tour.
We began our little adventure by waking up around 7:30am and then got dressed, ate breakfast, and brushed our teeth. Next, Paul picked us up around 9:00am and then picked up the other three passengers. While we were driving to the mountains, there was this huge roadblock (or should I say sheep block). It was so awesome and the sheep were so cute!!!
Our first stop was this Staveley Cafe where we met up with the other three passengers and had some afternoon tea. We ordered a sausage roll, mince and cheese (meat) pie, a latte, a canned carbonated lemon drink, and two hot chocolates. I have to say, the food was delicious!! The hot drinks were also good but I still think the food was much better.
After some bumpy driving, we arrived at this hill where they filmed a part of the movie (Middle Earth Rohan is the name for all of you L.O.T.R. fans.) which was inhabited by black cows (and their cow pies). After about 10-15 minutes of uphill walking/hiking, we arrived at the top of the hill where it was -2oC or roughly 28oF. At the top of the hill, my brother and I did a "sword fight" with replica L.O.T.R. swords, found some super thin ice, and got to see a great view.
Then, we walked downhill for the same amount of time as it took going uphill and we eventually came to the vehicle and then went to a place where we ate lunch. Our free lunch consisted of a choice of ham or smoked chicken sandwich, orange juice or campagne, and a chocolate cake with powdered sugar on top of it.
After a good and satisfying lunch, we began driving back to the hotels. On the way there, we stopped by the same cafe to drop off the same three passengers. As we continued to Christchurch, there was another roadblock. This time, it was a roadblock created by black cows which wasn't as cute as the lambs but it was good enough. While we were coming back, we watched some L.O.T.R. interviews and behind-the-scenes things. If you want to view the pictures of the trip, click here
Have a nice day!