28th December

Much of the day was spent at Sylvia Park, a relatively new shopping complex on the outskirts of Auckland. We got there early so it wasn't too busy but it was getting a bit manic by the time we left. It actually was quite nice to have a wander round a decent-sized mall. One thing about Christchurch is all of its suburban malls, each one reasonably big but not that big really. There's no Lakeside or Meadowhall type mall down here. There's a Nandos at Syliva Park too, so that's a huge redeeming feature.

In the afternoon we headed into the city. One thing I was determined to do while up north was head to the Imax where they were showing Beowulf. I had heard mixed things about the 2D version of the film but great things about the 3D version so definitely wanted to see it in its original format. I wasn't disappointed. It was visually quite stunning, a classic story and not "just a cartoon" as I had heard it described. Definitely go and see the 3D version if you can though. Some of the shots and movement and cinematography will look a bit weird in 2D I would think. Oh, and one bit of advice though, if you go and see it in 3D, sit centrally. Sitting off to the side gave me a massive headache from the images of the screen almost-but-not-quite focussing. It was worth it though. A great film (My Review: "Visually stunning. A proper story with loads of action. Got to be seen in 3D."), a big thumbs up all round from me, all apart from the accents. There's Irish in there, and Welsh and Scottish and some dodgy old ones, but not a lot of Danish.