British You Say

Trip Start Feb 08, 2008
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Trip End Mar 10, 2008

Flag of New Zealand  ,
Thursday, February 21, 2008

I am delighted to find that this hotel has a laundry room. Now normally laundry is not equal to excitement, but after this long on the road ( and we both tried very hard to pack light), everything we own is now starting to feel very lived in. So after breakfast laundry is high on my list. $4.00 a load for both the washer and the dryer, but I am still happy as it is way cheaper then sending out to the hotels laundry service. In between loads I download pictures (finally). Internet service is more reasonable here on the South Island, but still expensive by Canadian standards. Laundry done and spam cleared we are finally off the see the city, a city which is touted as being more British then England.

We are only two blocks from the main tourist attraction - Cathedral Square. We arrive at the square to find a market, vendor and food kiosks, and street performers. It is a wonderful morning and this would appear to be a beautiful city. Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island and this morning it is full of people eager to enjoy the weather and support the kiosks. The Anglican Cathedral is the star of the square, early Gothic and very elegant. Beside it the newest offering, the Millennium Chalice a modernistic sculpture that dominates the sky, the detail work on it representing many plants forms found here. This city also contains an Avon river, complete with weeping willows and punting, the Christchurch College of Canterbury, Victoria Square, and a Tram that goes on a circular route through downtown . Christ Church Catherdral
Christ Church Catherdral
 The city is full of UK tourists and I am sure they feel right at home here. This city is a photographers delight as there are amazing buildings on every corner , and the scenery along the Avon is a delight. Beautiful gardens are everywhere and I plan to spend time in some of them when we return.

We will be returning to Christchurch for a few days at the end of our tour of the South Island so we are pretty relaxed today - we know we do no have to do it all at once. We opt to take the Tram Tour and Gondola ride, which comes in a package deal $30.00 each. We take the city bus to the Gondola, not too hard to figure out and at $2.50 each (return) we think it is a pretty good deal as it is about a 20 minute bus ride to the gondola. The gondola goes to the top of a volcanic crater but we are disappointed with the facility. Not too much up here. It is hazy from up here and I am disappointed not be able to see the Southern Alps, which are usually visible from here. We can however see the Pacific Ocean and all of Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains. I think this is the only part of NZ that is flat (the rest is full of those narrow windy roads). The Crater Rim Walkways are well marked so we set out to try one. It is hot and we are walking through dessert like scrub. Not being too well equipped for this (I am wearing sandals, and we do not have much water with us), we decide to turn back after 20 minutes. We head back down the crater to return to town. Without the package deal the gondola would have been $22.00 each, we both agree this was not our favorite attraction. We did however enjoy the tram ride as it gave us a good overview of the layout of downtown and we had excellent commentary by the conductor. Being on the Tram also helps us locate where all the restaurants are. We have already learnt they close up early here, as we were not able to find anything open when we arrived last night. We quickly hop off to explore the restaurants , we are not going to go without food tonight!
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