The Great Kiwi Beer Festival & The LU Rec Center

I'm just combining two posts into one here :)

I went to the Great Kiwi Beer Festival (let's just call it the GKBF) in Christchurch yesterday which was super fun. There were 40 different booths selling beer and cider, and that's not even including the multiple beer gardens and food stands. I only got cider, but I don't really like beer. The stands I went to (and cider I got) were British Beer & Cider (Honey Milford Cider), Harrington's Breweries (Brotherhood Cider Three Berries), Mike's Organic Brewery (mike's Wicked Cider), Mussel Inn (Freckled Frog Feijoa cider), Old Mout Cider (Passionfruit & Cider), Sprig and Fern Brewery (Berry Cider), and Tuatara Brewery (Zeffer Cider). I know it sounds like a lot of drinks, but they were all $3 tastings. My favourite was actually one that my friend Erin tried at Old Mout Cider. She got a really good Boysencider. My least favourite was the Mussel Inn cider (what the heck is feijoa?!) which tasted like a mix of beer and cider. Of the beers I tried sips of, my favourite was from British Beer & Cider and it was a dark smoky beer.

There was loud music, and everyone there was mid/upper 20's and older (probably because the young crowd can't afford it;)). We got this AMAZING food for lunch from a booth called Flavours of Europe. It was a "potato cake with Manuka-smoked honey cured bacon, cheese, sour cream, and a cheeky dash of sweet chili sauce". Seriously the greatest thing ever. That might because we're used to tasteless NZ dining hall food, but it was to die for <3 Overall I had a fantastic time!! It was pretty pricey, but a lot of fun :) Here are our pictures!

Me (Washington, USA), Peter (Germany), Erin (Minnesota, USA)

Our awesome new shirts :)

The gym here is weird because you have to pay for a membership, but all the classes are free. So that's been super nice once I paid the $85 fee! They do all of the BodyPump, BodyVive, etc. classes, so it's a good variety. Our schedule for gym classes goes like this:

Monday - BodyBalance at 7pm (yoga + strength)

Tuesday - BodyCombat at 6pm (combo of karate/boxing/tai chi, etc.)

Wednesday - BodyBalance at noon

Thursday - BodyVive at 6pm (Zumba but more workout-y) OR RPM/cycling at 7pm

Friday - Zumba at 5

Saturday - free day :)

Sunday - BodyCombat at 3:30pm unless we're out adventuring

I once tried a 6am cycling/RPM class. Never again. Hahaha. So it's been awesome getting a good variety for workouts, especially for one who hates running! It also helps when you have awesome gym buddies to go with. So shout out to Holly and Erin for that :)