Advertisement
Published: November 22nd 2023
Edit Blog Post
On Sunday we left Hamilton and drove the beast to Auckland. It rained all the way but we made good time. We had to go looking for a petrol station as we couldn't see one at the airport. Finally drove out to a BP and filled up. Interestingly diesel is much cheaper here than petrol. Once we returned the car we went into the terminal and waited to board our plane to Christchurch. The flight lasted just over an hour and we disembarked and picked up our car. We drove into the city and found our hotel, Quest on Cambridge. This was very close to the main shopping area.
Once we had checked in we walked up to the Bridge of Remembrance over the Avon River. It has been at least 25 years since I had been here and of course, the earthquake destroyed most of the city. We walked down to Cathedral Square where the beautiful old Cathedral is still being renovated. We returned to the newly built shopping area and there we chose Delilah's for dinner. After a nice meal we returned to the hotel where our apartment consisted of a lounge/kitchen, a bedroom and bathroom. Very comfortable.
The next morning our plan was to travel around the city on the HopOn HopOff tram. This has some great old trams trundling around 18 stops , covering the main tourist spots, which gave us a good idea about the place. The tram we first rode on was 89 years old, the newest of the rolling stock. There was good commentary from the driver as we completed a full circle, while we decided where to go back to.We alighted at the old Canterbury University, where we were told there was a museum concerning Ernest Rutherford, including his den where he conducted experiments as a student. This was an interesting exhibition, detailing his career and his winning of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. We enjoyed the exhibition.
Then we walked around the campus, seeing the renovations of the old buildings which had been damaged by the earthquake. Across the road was the Botanic Gardens. We walked across and had a lovely walk through the gardens. There were some amazing old trees, a beautiful rose garden, the Peace bell and the Avon winding through them. We saw the punting boats with tourists in them floating down the river. At the entrance was
a beautiful fountain, named after a man called Peacock and thus the Peacock fountain. It was sunny, but windy, and we reboarded the tram to travel to New Regent St . This is a beautiful street, lined with lovely facades, with each side a mirror image of the other side and many shops. We stopped at Casa Publica, a South American restaurant where we had a great lunch .
Then it was back on the tram and back to Cathedral Square. There were some market stalls there which we checked out and then we walked back to the shopping area. We found an interesting bookshop, Scorpios, where Fletcher found another NZ athletics book. Then it was back to the hotel.
That night was another catch-up night. We drove out to see Trevor and Linda Spittle. They have a small house on a vast Retirement village site. It is an impressive place. Within walking distance they had a bar and great restaurant where we had dinner with glasses of wine only costing $5 each!!. It was great food with good company and we had an enjoyable night. We really enjoyed Christchurch.
.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.06s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0422s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb