New Zealand - Christchurch and area

Christchurch itself feels like quite a civilised place although the cathedral in the centre is gradually getting surrounded by the usual assortment of office blocks. It still feels a bit like a provincial "english" city although that feeling is probably somewhat less that I remember it from my last visit about 8 years ago.

The cathedral square was fairly quiet on the day I was in it. Nearby is the usual assortment of shops. Stocked up with some clothes and got some film developed in one of the 2 hours development services on offer...

Christchurch still has a tram network although I think its fairly limited in scope. Still it adds to a slightly "continental" (europe that is) feel to the place.

The shops themselves were fairly typical of New Zealand. I was there on a normal working day (Monday). It was quite nice playing the "tourist" while everyone was busy with their normal life!

The city centre area is fairly compact and easy to wonder around on foot.

Another place I went to with my friend was down to the sea front area of Christchurch (though perhaps its technically another city - Brighton - I'm not sure!). Took a walk out along a long pier - pretty windy on the day we were there, with a smattering of people walking along the beach.

Back in Christchurch itself, the River Avon (I think!) flows through it. Again very reminiscent of "Oxbridge" right down to the punts on the river and the names of the roads on each bank ("Cambridge Terrace" and "Oxford Terrace"). Still it makes for a very pleasant walk along the banks.

One of my favourite places in Christchurch to relax is the Botanic Gardens. Admittedly you need to like wandering around trees and plants!

Here we see a couple being punted down the Avon in the park. All very civilised!

The park itself has a pretty impressive selection of trees and a few somewhat weird sculptures and the usual selection of Victorian fountains.

On the Sunday we took a car trip out around the surrounding area of Christchurch. This is a view of Lyttelton harbour from the hills which form a barrier between Lyttelton and Christchurch.

Nearby is the "Sugarloaf" nature reserve which offers lots of opportunities for walks and views over the surrounding area. It was blowing a gale when we were up there so we didn't do too much walking!

Here we see a photo of Christchurch from the same area as the previous photos. It was a little misty but the grid layout of the city was very clear from the view. However the city looked very green from all the trees, gardens and park areas dotted around the city.

Another place we visited was the Antarctic Centre which was an interesting "hands on" style museum/educational centre.

Inside there were a variety of exhibits and information - including a room where you could experience the cold of Antarctic. Unfortunately none of the photos I took inside the exhibits turned out very well, so here's one of the gift shop area at the entrance!

Finally, somewhat reluctantly, I had to return my hire car and go to Christchurch airport for my connecting flight to Auckland and onward to Los Angeles. Had a slight bit of worry at the airport when I couldn't locate my flight on the departure VDUs - before I realised that these varied depending upon which area you were in! My connecting flight was with Quantas NZ.

Had a bit of time to spare, so wondered up to the viewing balcony which provided a view over the airport. Saw some small military (French?) aircraft taking off - think they had been doing a display in New Zealand.