The Second Post - Pics to follow

Hey Everyone, this post sums up the past little while - we've been on the run a bit and haven't kept up with our blogging responsibilities:

April 17:

Aly: On the road again, headed to a small french port town called Akaroa..

Craig: Much like the other drives across the country, the roads are unbelievably difficult to maneuver - often felt like I was playing "Cruisin World" the legendary video game. Too many 180-270 degree turns to count over the course of the drive. Throw in the torrential downpours we experienced, and driving on the other side of the road, and it wasn't the most relaxing drive.

April 18:

Aly: Its rainy and unbelievably cold in Akarora (and by cold i mean high of ten). The town is a bit boring in the bad weather - just a bunch of trinkity stores. Had some awesome fish and chips though. In the afternoon we headed to the Christchurch airport enroute to Auckland.

Craig: Kiwi's have a reputation for being polite, overly nice people and they're indeed everything I'd assumed they would be. A good example of this was the kiwi version of "cops", which was playing on a tv at the airport. When an officer would arrest an offender, the officer would often empathize with the offender's situation. Some of the best quotes of the show happened after the arrest, when an officer would say something to the effect of "I know you've had a long day, its been tough. Why don't we have a conversation about this, take down your statement and we'll be done for the day". Fantastic stuff.
Our flight was delayed about 2 hours, which put a dent in to our plans to reunite with Luis. It also meant we had roughly 5 hours to check in to the hotel, sleep, and leave for our 7:30am flight.

April 19:

Craig: Off to Melbourne on the early morning flight. Air New Zealand if officially our favorite airline.
Walked the town for a few hours, checked out the commissioned graffiti murals (very cool idea) and took in the sites. They really love their espresso in Melbourne. We love it too after drinking such weak coffee for the past couple of weeks.
Met up with Mary (WLU connection down under) and her sister, Teresa, for a drink at the Carlton and then off to dinner at Movida. Great recommendation by Gus/Deena, our newest Melbourne friends (we crashed their honeymoon on a wine tour in nz) - food was excellent.

Aly: Agreed about Air NZ - great movie selection and they serve mimosas, even to us lowly folks in the back of the plane.
Ate "bugs"!? - an ugly little crustacion that vaguely resembles lobster. Very tastey though, much like the rest of the meal.

April 20:

Craig: Walked the city some more, drank some espressos, checked out some laneways/alleyways, cloudy most of the day with off and on rain - haven't had the best weather while in Melbourne. Met up with Mary/Teresa at their place for dinner.

April 21:

Alyson: Had a rendezvous with our aussie friend Em at a cool bar/resto/brewery in Fitzroy. Food and company were both awesome and great to catch up.

April 22:

Alyson: We somehow lucked out and scored a personal tour for the day (thanks Em!), complete with the best lattes in melbourne. Spent the afternoon/evening meandering along the beach and streets of St. Kilda.

Craig: Received another lesson on how to pronounce my own name - (thanks Em!)

April 23:

Alyson: Managed to get some last minute spagetti at a legendary melbourne cafe (and yes, its famous for a reason) before heading to Sydney.

Craig: Arrived in Sydney safe and sound. Staying the next few days with the legendary Mr. Todd Lawrence, who has been spending the past 4+ years down under in Sydney. Looking forward to catching up and checking out the city.