December 31th, 2015

We departed early and headed through Arthur's Pass towards Christchurch to pick up Nick. The traffic was light in the morning, and we made good time, only
encountering a little fog on the way down. We finished the trip in 3 hours, but had some time before Nick's flight, so we headed west towards Lyfton, where
we visited the port, as well as Governor's and Corsair's Bay.  We crossed Gebbie's Pass, and headed towards Arakoa once more, getting farther than previously,
but still turning back prior to the city. At the airport, we picked up Nick, went to lunch and got his rant about the trip over, then went to our hotel to
check-in.

Once we were situated, we headed off on foot to check out how downtown Christchurch, which had recovered significant since we had last saw it. We stopped by
the boathouse and took a boat ride (by punt) around the Avon river there. The weather was wonderful, and the ride pleasant. The couple in front of us ended up
being... from DFW. Once we left the boat, we headed back towards the hotel. We passed the Christchurch museum, and Nick decided to in, while Jen and I decided 
to go do laundry at the apartment. Later, we ate dinner at the Himalaya indian restaurant, where we had dined several years ago, and it was excellent.

That night we debated whether to head back over Arthur's Pass, where there had been a serious bus accident which had closed the road. As it would turn out, by
tomorrow morning the road was clear.