Christchurch Cup Day

Frank's new friend, and our littlest guest:)

Frank found a friend in our littlest guest Seoyeon from Korea.  She decided as soon as she laid eyes on him that she would be Frank's new sidekick, and he really didn't have much choice in the matter!

Seouyeon cam with her parents from South Korea.  They stayed for a month and during this time both Frank and Seoyeong figured out they were at the bottom of the pecking order, so, they combined forces:)

Nir vs Das Boot

This is a special post to honor our one and only Israeli guest, Nir.  Nir stayed with us a few nights, went on his way, and then came back for a quick stay before he departed to Australia.  Upon this final stay with us he asked Matt if he might have a go at "das boot".  This was an unexpected request, as all had been quiet on the boot front over winter and Nir had coem off as a rather quiet guy himself.. Matt quickly pulled the boot down from it's resting spot, dusted it off and filled it up.  Nir handled it like a pro, and his fame of being the one and only Israeli to darken our doorway morfed into "Nir-the one and only Israeli to take down das boot!"-our  hats go off to you man! Unfortunately, das boot had it's revenge on Nir, as it lulled him into a deep sleep, so deep that he even the shuttle driver was unable to wake him, and his flight set sail to Australia without him.  Let us learn from Nir's mistakes, das boot can be an unforgiving mistress...

Tracy Bikes Around the South Island!

One of our most memorable guests to date would have to be the lovely Tracy from Wigan UK.  Tracy booked in for 3 nights and 3 weeks later there she was still here glass of wine in one hand, bike pump in the other.  During her stay Tracy decided to forego the bus and bike her way around the South Island.  Not an easy task for the most experienced biker, but Tracy seemed unfazed by the undertaking and set about planning her trip and sorting out her biking gears, starting with a shiney new mountain bike!  A glorious bike indeed, however, as a slightly more seasoned biker pointed out to her-it was perhaps the wrong choice for road riding...Luckily This too did not faze her and she continued her planning, and plotting.  All best laid plans are hatched over a few cheeky wines, which led to Tracy's "extended" stay:) Every morning we would anxiously see her off, only to be happily surprised to see her smiling face upon our return home at the end of the day!  It was a sad, sad day when you finally left us Tracy, we'll continue to leave the porch light on for you.  And to the rest of you driving maddly around them windy South Island roads, slow down and keep yer eyes peeled for a mad British girl peddling a mountain bike saddled down with wine bottles:)

The House That Rocked!

On September 4th we went to bed, all snuggley tucked up in our beds, and woke up in the wee hours of the morning to find ourselves in the gallies amongst the rocking of what felt like the high seas!
Luckily, due to the magic of iphones we were able to quickly conclude that Brighton by the Beach had not set sail to Antacrtica, rather had held strong through Christchurch's much talked about earthquake!

Now we don't mean to down play such an event, as there were many not as fortunate as we were, however I would like to focus on some of the highlights!  In the aftermath as we all stood huddled in our pajamas in the back yard, unsure of what to do next, we decided to do the only thing we could, get to know eachother.  I met the two lovely Scottish girls, we will not soon forget, Laura and Hollie for my first time, as they had just arrived that night.  A little light "getting to know eachother chitchat", "What's your name?", "Where are you from?", "How was your flight?",  "Is this your first earthquake?", can be quite claming during a time of crisis.

After doing a quick head count that we noticed an extra head accompanied by an unfamiliar male voice.
As luck would have it, one of our long term guest's boyfriend had planned a surprise visit on a romantic whim.  A grand gesture, but poor timing on his behalf.
After all the shaking, that didn't seem in a hurry to move on, neither were our guests, which came as a huge surprise and relief to us! They forged through the dark nights with out power and dry days of no water along with us.  We were sure to keep them all hydrated with what we had on tap-beer is 80% water isn't it?  For here at Brighton by the Beach the quake acted as a time machine that trasported us all back to the days when people just sat around the fire over candles and conversation.  Those who stuck it out with us had us looking forward to coming home to dark nights filled with great conversation and good laughs!

Let the countdown begin!

We want a way to show everyone what we have been up to here at Brighton by the Beach and jumping  on the Blogger bandwagon seemed the best way to keep  moving with the times!

We want to share with you a year of "memorable" guests and even more memorable times leading up to NZ's moment of glory, the Rugby Worl Cup!

To keep this an "official one year countdown" we will start Sept 4th, which is a few days early, but a monumental day for us here in Christchurch.  For those of you who stayed with us prior to this date, it's not that you aren't "memorable" enough to make it on our countdown blog, it just means you'll have to come through and visit us again sometime between now and September 8th 2011!!

So with out further adieu, we shall kick this countdown off~