Family Trip to Christchurch (August 2010)

We hadn't been to Christchurch before so decided we would go and check it out. Both of our sons hadn't been on a plane before so it was a real exciting experience for the 5 year old. We booked our flights with House of travel and paid $49 each way, per person. With the taxes and extra baggage the total cost came to around $400 for the 4 of us (one baby). We drove to Auckland and used the 'Park'n'Ride service which cost around $40 for 3 days parking. We flew Pacific Blue from Auckland to Christchurch, it was a fairly old Boeing 737 (probably Air New Zealand) that had been painted up with Pacific Blue's branding. Not many people on the plane so we were able to move around and check out both sides of the plane. Food was expensive (as expected) but the staff were really helpful when we needed a bottle re-heated for the baby.

We prepaid our accommodation at Christchurch's Top 10 Holiday Park which worked out about $160 for 2 nights. We stayed in a Deluxe Chalet, which is a fancy word for "Kitchen in your bedroom" It had 2 bedrooms and an ensuite. We were all really impressed by all the things to do at the holiday park. They had a huge jumping pillow, a playground, trampolines, HUGE adult sized slides, pedal cars, heated pool, spa pool, BBQ, Internet and more.

While we were there we signed up for a Top 10 Holiday membership which gave us a 10% refund on our stay as well as a refund on the spa ($10) in total it saved us $40. We weren't able to take advantage of any of the other special deals the membership gave us (because of our tight schedule) but it lasts for 2 years and can be used at all top 10 holiday parks in New Zealand as well as many surrounding activities.

There wasn't much time for activities so we decided to check out the Canterbury Museum which was free. The next day we caught the bus into town and then out to the gondola. For $80 we purchased a package which gave us a Gondola Ride and a Tram Ride each. When we got to the top of the Gondola the view was magnificent, there wasn't enough time to enjoy the cafe or restaurant but we did experience the Time Tunnel for free and to my surprise, it was really good.

Once we were back in town, there was about 3 hours until our plane left and we hadn't been on the tram yet so luckily we were able to quickly jump on the tram for half a ride. We ran back through town, jumped on a bus back to the holiday Park and waited for the shuttle to take us to the airport.

We spent about $20 on food to take on board, seemed to work out a little cheaper.

Our flight back was on Jetstar, a much nicer and newer plane. The weather was excellent and I knew we'd be flying during sunset. I took some nice photos out of the plane on the way back. I enjoyed a speights which cost me about $6, I was hoping they had Jim Beam and Cola! We landed in Auckland once it was dark, the view coming in was amazing. We drove home, completely exhausted but happy we had visited Christchurch.