3/9/15 Rotorua to Queenstown

We had another travel day today.  We got to the airport and did not have to go through any security at all.  It felt strange to just walk to the terminal and then out onto the tarmac to the plane.  We had a nice flight to Christchurch, where we had to disembark for about five minutes and then re-board the same plane - this time with different seats!  The tour used to stay in Christchurch, but the town is still recovering from the earthquake they experience about two years ago.  We then had a short flight to Queenstown.  We were picked up by coach and taken to the small gold mining town of Arrowtown.  We caught a small lunch and then just had a poke into some of the small shops on the only street in town.  It was about 3 PM when we finally got to our hotel, which is on a hill just outside of town.  We walked down the hill - magnificent views and poked around for a while.  It was a beautiful day so we found a bench at the waterfront and watch the people, boats, gulls and ducks.  There was a car display on the green behind us so I took a pic of a Maclaren and a Boxter for the car nuts in the grandchild sphere.  We then met up for dinner at The Baccarat restaurant.  The regional manager from Australia and New Zealand, David, had dinner with us.  He was a charming young man and we had a good chat.  We also had a lovely waitress, Christine.  She is originally from Sheffield, England (known for their steel and "The Full Monty") and we had a great time joking with her.  She seemed to side with Lana about the pronunciation of Norwich (an ongoing joke between us) and we had a good laugh!  David very kindly gave us a ride back up the hill (and bought a round of drinks for us) so that we didn't have to walk in the dark.