Christchurch is the largest city in South Island and is the second largest city (350,000 population) in New Zealand. It is very English in character as settlers from England came here to establish a Church of England colony in1820s.
The ship docked at the Port of Lyttleton, which serves Christchurch. The harbor and the city are separated by a mountain range, and the two were connected by a steep, narrow and very winding road over the mountain (which we got to experience today in a big bus – not for the faint at heart). It wasn’t until 1964 that a tunnel connecting the two was built through the mountain cutting travel time from hours (in bad weather) to 20 minutes. The reason the city was built over the mountain was that there was very little room for a settlement on the harbor side; it is very steep and hilly and receives the bad weather from winter storms from Antarctica while the mountains protect Christchurch from the brunt of these storms.
South Island is very mountainous (it is called the Southern Alps) and has an extremely rugged coastline that is indented with bays and inlets; it is a very narrow island and only takes four hours by car to cross from the eastern to the western shore. Our bus stopped at the very top (a place called The Sign of Te Kawa) and our driver told us that on a good day we could see Australia. However, since Australia is about 1,000 miles away I think he might have been exaggerating. There are fjords on the west coast, and we hope to see these in the next few days if the weather cooperates. On our last trip to New Zealand, the weather was so bad the captain scrubbed our excursion into Milford Sound. Keep your fingers crossed….
Christchurch is the jumping off point for expeditions going to Antarctica and the McMurdo Ice Station. There is an excellent International Antarctica Center located near the airport where several countries have their own Antarctica research and supply centers. Here you can experience what a winter storm feels like in Antarctica – 20* below zero with a howling wind. They even provide the parkas. We did not go here today as we went last time we were in Christchurch.
What I did not know was Christchurch is called the garden city of New Zealand. International floral competitions are held here and it is a big deal. Many varieties of flora and fauna were brought here from England, and while not native, they seem to flourish here. Pine trees, also non-native, thrive here including the unusual Norfolk Pine. We saw forested mountains covered in pines. The trees are harvested after 20 years and the logs are exported for use in house framing to China and Korea.
There were large parks and gardens throughout the city and yards were meticulously maintained. Both Michael and I escorted the same city tour today and it was mostly gardens. The weather was cool and overcast, which was too bad because the light for taking pictures was too “flat.” The colors of the flowers didn’t pop as much as when the sun is shining.
The ship docked at the Port of Lyttleton, which serves Christchurch. The harbor and the city are separated by a mountain range, and the two were connected by a steep, narrow and very winding road over the mountain (which we got to experience today in a big bus – not for the faint at heart). It wasn’t until 1964 that a tunnel connecting the two was built through the mountain cutting travel time from hours (in bad weather) to 20 minutes. The reason the city was built over the mountain was that there was very little room for a settlement on the harbor side; it is very steep and hilly and receives the bad weather from winter storms from Antarctica while the mountains protect Christchurch from the brunt of these storms.
South Island is very mountainous (it is called the Southern Alps) and has an extremely rugged coastline that is indented with bays and inlets; it is a very narrow island and only takes four hours by car to cross from the eastern to the western shore. Our bus stopped at the very top (a place called The Sign of Te Kawa) and our driver told us that on a good day we could see Australia. However, since Australia is about 1,000 miles away I think he might have been exaggerating. There are fjords on the west coast, and we hope to see these in the next few days if the weather cooperates. On our last trip to New Zealand, the weather was so bad the captain scrubbed our excursion into Milford Sound. Keep your fingers crossed….
Christchurch is the jumping off point for expeditions going to Antarctica and the McMurdo Ice Station. There is an excellent International Antarctica Center located near the airport where several countries have their own Antarctica research and supply centers. Here you can experience what a winter storm feels like in Antarctica – 20* below zero with a howling wind. They even provide the parkas. We did not go here today as we went last time we were in Christchurch.
What I did not know was Christchurch is called the garden city of New Zealand. International floral competitions are held here and it is a big deal. Many varieties of flora and fauna were brought here from England, and while not native, they seem to flourish here. Pine trees, also non-native, thrive here including the unusual Norfolk Pine. We saw forested mountains covered in pines. The trees are harvested after 20 years and the logs are exported for use in house framing to China and Korea.
There were large parks and gardens throughout the city and yards were meticulously maintained. Both Michael and I escorted the same city tour today and it was mostly gardens. The weather was cool and overcast, which was too bad because the light for taking pictures was too “flat.” The colors of the flowers didn’t pop as much as when the sun is shining.
We viewed all the usual city highlights including the Christchurch Cathedral, but the highlight of our tour today was the Mona Vale Gardens. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. It was truly a tranquil and beautiful place. We finished off the tour at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. Flowers, flowers everywhere; such beauty to behold.
Last night we had dinner with Lynne and Ron. Lynne is one of Michael’s bridge students and believe it or not, we did not discuss bridge all evening. Lynne and Ron have a romantic love story and I so enjoyed hearing about it. Both of them were widows on a cruise, each by themselves. They were assigned a dinner seating at the same table along with two very elderly busy body women. Each night they would vie for who would sit by the gentlemen. One night, Lynne got fed up with the old biddies and announced she would sit by Ron. Well, one night led to many nights and finally, marriage. THE LOVE BOAT magic really works!
I managed to find a Sunday flea market with interesting native crafts, but not interesting enough to buy anything. You might remember hearing about a significant earthquake centered in Christchurch last September (it was 7.1). While they have certainly cleaned up most of the mess, you could see evidence of the magnitude of the destruction incurred on almost every block.
I managed to find a Sunday flea market with interesting native crafts, but not interesting enough to buy anything. You might remember hearing about a significant earthquake centered in Christchurch last September (it was 7.1). While they have certainly cleaned up most of the mess, you could see evidence of the magnitude of the destruction incurred on almost every block.
happy to hear your having fun! love you guys!
ReplyDeletelove deborah & belle