Garden Ramblings: Christchurch - Monday and Tuesday

Monday morning we had a 9:00 am flight from Auckland to Christchurch. Stephen and Craig very graciously drove us to the airport, so it was an early morning for all. We were flying domestically, and had the most amazing flying experience that we've had in years!

First of all, we took our printed tickets and scanned them. The machine printed out boarding passes and baggage tags! We had a slight hiccup when the machine we were using ran out of tags, but there was an agent right there that took care of us. After you tag your luggage, you weigh it, then put it on the conveyor belt. After that we went through security - they weren't interested in our airline-approved plastic bag of liquids/gels. We didn't have to take off our shoes. They did want the computer out. So we were through security very quickly! Then out to the gate and on the airplane. At no time did anyone ask for any ID!! It was like flying ten years ago! And, if all of that wasn't shocking enough, we got breakfast on the plane! Complimentary! And we had a choice! I like flying domestic down here!

We arrived in Christchurch right on time, and caught the bus into town. When we got into the city center we caught a taxi to our motel. Our motel was located about 5 blocks from the city center. It's easy walking distance to all the action, but quiet at night for sleeping, which is just what we like.

After we got settled in, we headed to town to see what was going on. The Busker's Festival is going on - an international gathering of street performers, so there was lots to see! The architecture of Christchurch is amazing! The original architecture is very English. In fact, Christchurch professes to be more English than England! Of course, now there is very modern architecture mixed in, which makes it all very interesting!

The weather was good - clear and sunny, though cool, and a bit windy. We saw lots of things, including the cathedral, historic buildings, the botanical gardens and statues. We also went to the visitor center and booked some things that we knew that we wanted to do - take the tram tour, take the Gondola ride and visit Akaroa.

After that, we went back to the room and got ready to meet Kathy and Ian for dinner. Kathy is Gerald's sister (Andy's cousin) and lives here in Christchurch with her family. We let her know that we were going to be here, and hoped to catch up with them, which we did. It was great to meet them and their daughters. Their son, Alex, was visiting friends in Australia, but we got to meet Annalise and Ashlinn, ages 19 and 17.
We had a wonderful dinner at a little out of the way place that we would have never stumbled on ourselves. Kathy and Ian were great, and lots of fun and it was great to spend time with them.

On Tuesday we spent the day touring around the city, and took the tram tour. We visited the museum, as well. We finished up the day with a fabulous dinner at an Italian restaurant. We both agreed that the pasta dish was one of the best we had ever eaten!

Then, "home" and to bed - Akaroa tomorrow!

One of the performers at the Busker's Festival - she was great!

The Chalice - one of the sculptures in the city square.

The cathedral - just beautiful!

This is a beautiful building.

This is a statue of Scott - one of the explorers who lost his life in Antarctica.

The water wheel at what used to be the granary. It's still running!

The new, modern Art Gallery.

This was a government building at one time.

This was originally part of Cambridge College. They outgrew it and built a new one, so now the building houses cafes and retail.

The fountain in the Botanic gardens. There are Buskers entertaining the crowd at the front of the picture.

Amazing hydrangeas in the Botanic gardens.

The Dahlias were in full, glorious bloom - we took about a million pictures of them! Note the bee on this one.

The entrance to the rose garden.

The conservatory housed an amazing array of plants - this anthurium was unlike any we'd seen before.

The name above seems appropriate for this very strange flower!

Bananas! And note the bloom at the bottom of the picture - I'd never seen that before, either!

This was an absolutely gorgeous display of tuberous begonias. Between the two of us we have tons of pictures. Consider yourselves fortunate that we've only posted this one!

This is what New Zealanders do with their artichokes - they let them go to bloom! They don't really see the point in eating them.....

The main fountain. The Buskers have gone and the fountain was on.

Ian and Kathy at dinner.

This was a small grocery store that we walked by. We could not believe the amount of stuff that was in there - floor to ceiling, wall to wall!

Punting on the Avon. This was on our list of things to do, but, alas, we just ran out of time. Next time!

Lee in front of a fountain that looks like dandelions gone to seed.

A Maori totem pole
Captain James Cook. He "discovered" New Zealand, as well as many other Pacific islands.

Now it's Tuesday, and we visited the Cathedral - incredibly beautiful!

We would have loved to hear the organ played.

We visited the Christchurch museum, which chronicled the development of New Zealand, from Maori time to present day. This stage coach was used to transport passengers over dirt, rutted roads - couldn't have been very comfortable!