Christchurch and upper east coast

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Canterbury Plains
February 14th 2006

Published: March 7th 2006

I have decided that we are doing the NZ farms and gardens a big favour with our travels. Wherever we go, we bring the rain. We arrive in a new spot, bringing rain. It rains while we are there, and everyone tells us it was fine until now. On the day we leave, the sun comes out, and we drive along baking in the sun. But it clouds over just as we arrive. We had to pass by many interesting things, su... Read Full Entry

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A.L. Carney

alcarney

I am doing a few weeks of voluntary work at an environmental learning centre in Central America. For gardening and teaching some local women some felting and other textile crafts, and to update the centre's website. It is a very interesting place, and the programmes are quite impressive. There are 8 volunteers here I think, two of us are twenty nine, and the rest are in their early to mid 20s. The website does better justice to the huge undertaking this has been: http://www.learningcentercostarica.org/ This is from 4 years ago My 25 year old daughter Erin and I are leaving fo... full info

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Jester sculpture

Are you getting the impression we spent a long time around the Arts Centre?

Canterbury College detail

Uniform story here

Find AL

Hint: wearing dark jacket. Botanical Gardens again.

Christmas tree

New Zealand size

Organic Garden

of the teahouse in one corner of the Botanical Gardens.

How to make a vegetable garden

look really good. Same teahouse. OK, I will settle for my next back yard to look just like this.

The Avon River,

would you believe? Every name you come across in this place has been seen before in a map of England.

And what could be any better

than a gondola ride down the Avon?

Oh how veddy veddy proper!

Shall we start calling it Ablution Block in Canada? Pat would like to perform some daily ablutions, but is unable to do the Social Climbing involved.

For those tired of looking at flowers

in here : this one is NOT THE SAME as the next one.

Same colour

but not the same plant.

Do these look like Maples to you?

This branch has leaves of several different colours - some variegated, some solid white.

Find Waldo!

oops I mean Pat.

Summit Drive, Christchurch

More than 50 km of winding roads circle the hills around Christchurch. The scenery is wonderful - as long as a cloud doesn't settle down around you, as what happened that day.

Summit Drive, Christchurch

Well the clouds continued to come down, and what started as a fun outing turned into a scary nail-biting drive in the mountains. We couldn't see a car length in front of us. Strangely, we came across many cyclists miles from safety, practicing for an upcoming cross-country event a few days away.

The turning point

We finally got off Summit Drive by taking the turn to Lyttleton. I had spent the entire time leaning in to Pat's side as I watched the edge of the road drop away beside me, into nebulous oblivion. I was frozen in the same position as we tried to pull me out of the car when we got into town.

Dirt.

Any questions? Dug through the hills to make the road.

Christchurch Botanic Gardens

The Sign of the Kiwi

has been up on Summit Road for decades. There are pictures inside of touring groups driving Model T's over the precarious rocky roads to reach the place, and teams of oxen pulling water up the hills in 1904.

Sign of the Kiwi

On our first visit in the fog, it was just closing. Second visit, I had Tea with Scones, including Devonshire Clotted Cream. Pat, sticking with tradition, chose a milkshake. How veddy British.

Beach at New Brighton

one of the suburbs of Christchurch. Windy that day, but there was a guy just coming back from kayaking, in the parking lot when we arrived.

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Christchurch and upper east coast

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