Christchurch

Hi, everyone.  This posting is on tape delay, as I find it difficult to catch up with posting every night.  So if I'm three days behind (as I am now), assume we are fine and I will catch up eventually.  Here is the post for Feb. 12 and 13.

Saturday, Feb. 12 in Christchurch

We had another hot typical English breakfast at Croyden Inn; that is, sausage that is not really sausage, bacon that is not really bacon, and eggs that – OK, well, they are really eggs, but not cooked to Karen’s satisfaction.  But like a dog eating any table scraps, I wolfed it all down.  We began our exploration of Christchurch with a walk to  Cathedral Square, the city’s centerpiece.  As you would expect, the square is dominated by the Cathedral, but a new sculpture also catches the eye, Chalice as shown in the picture beside the cathedral.

Christchurch Cathedral with Chalice sculpture at right

Our dumb luck brought us to Christchurch at the beginning of their flower festival and the center of that festival was in the cathedral.  The center aisle of the church was a carpet of flowers very artistically laid out.  All around the sanctuary were displays of flowers that were also exquisite works of art.  The theme of the show was conserving water and each display was some representation of that theme.

Carpet of flowers in the cathedral

We had a muffin and coffee in the Cathedral Café.  By now I have learned the cafe terminology of New Zealand. There is “short black” which is espresso, “long black” which is a double espresso, “flat white” which is espresso plus milk, all very strong, obviously, which I love, but is too strong for Karen.  Coffee in homes (and hotel rooms) is either plunger (French press) coffee or (yech!) instant.  Some restaurants do offer “Americano” coffee which is drip coffee through a filter.

We went punting on the Avon River; no, we weren’t kicking a football, we were pleasantly boated down the river in a punt, poled by a punter.  Very peaceful and somewhat romantic, but very inefficient mode of transportation!

Punting on the Avon.  This was another punt passing by us.

On to the Christchurch Art Museum, a flashy architecture space with excellent art by mostly 20^th century New Zealand artists.  Very high quality stuff, but none of the artists are really known to Americans.  A 21^st century aspect of this museum is that the audio tour was on an ipod, which neither Karen and I had used.  A bit confusing, but we are now trained in ipod use and are ready to be given ipods on our next birthdays.  Lunch at the art museum café – cafes are everywhere!  However, because of very slow service, an endemic disease in NZ restaurants, we were late for a walking tour of botanic gardens.  However, we took a guided tour on a tram, less effort for us.  The Botanic Gardens were the best ever, exceeding even Wellington.

At the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Our final activity for the day was the Antarctic Centre - really well done multi-media, hands on experience, including a ride on an Antarctic track vehicle that traverses the rugged icy landscape, very bumpy and wild.  After my experience with the whale watching boat, I was a little concerned, but this time I kept my lunch down.  There was also a 4D movie about life in Antarctica,  3D, of course, but complete with water spray and snow falling, etc.  Pretty cool (so to speak).  So maybe Antarctica is our next continent?  I doubt it.

Awaiting the snowstorm.  Here's a hint - don't wear shorts in a snowstorm!

Dinner at Portofino capped a fine day in a fine city.  Oh, one other thing.  I noticed right away that several buildings had scaffolding around them and learned later that Christchurch had quite a major earthquake last September and major repairs are still being completed.  They have had thousands of aftershocks since, the last one a day or two before we arrived!

Sunday, Feb. 13 – Christchurch to Queenstown

This was a travel day, driving across southern part of South Island, from the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps.   I have mentioned driving before, mostly two-lane winding roads especially in mountainous country, with passing lanes at times.  I got a real scare when passing a car thinking I could see ahead, but suddenly a car appeared from a dip in the road I didn’t see.  A quick acceleration and a slide back to the left side of the road averted a collision.  Patience, Jim, patience!

It was our first rainy day and the mountains ahead of us were dark and mysterious because of the  rain and low-hanging clouds.  Reminded me of Mordor… (If you didn’t see or read Lord of the Rings, never mind.) 

Oh, Mr. Frodo - it looks so dark and evil over there!

Finally arrived in Queenstown. Nice hotel (Coronation Lodge) and nice town, Queenstown is.  Dinner at Soltera Vino - food excellent, service a little slow (notice the pattern here?).  Looking forward to tomorrow, the trip to Milford Sound.

Jim