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Published: February 27th 2007
View from Above
For those unfamiliar with the geography of this region......Australia is located West of New Zealand, thus, to get to NZ, we flew East. This picture is a view of the West Coast of NZ. We had to fly across the width of the South Island of NZ to reach Christchurch which is located on the East Coast. Hello everyone!
I hope this email finds you well.
I am safe and sound in lovely New Zealand! The flight was fantastic—again, I love international flights—free booze and movies (“Stormbreaker”—0/10; without a doubt it is one of the top 5 worst movies I have ever seen). The view of New Zealand from above was absolutely amazing! It really does look like the terrain/landscape from “Lord of the Rings.” Upon arrival in Christchurch (a.k.a. “The Garden City”) I received flowers and hugs from the local greeting party. Very nice introduction to the city.
Christchurch itself is absolutely beautiful! The city has a population of about 350,000 and is located between the Port Hills and the Pacific Ocean. The city has a small town feel (and much smaller feel than Melbourne—population of ~3.5 million) and is decorated with flowers and plants at every corner. The Christchurch Botanical Gardens, Hagley Park and Latimer Square provide excellent lush green grounds in the city center. In addition, the Avon River cuts a swath right through the middle of town and allows people to spend time relaxing by water.
Although Christchurch has a small town feel, it is the largest city in the
South Island and has an excellent nightlife. The majority of the bars/pubs have outside and/or rooftop patios in which to enjoy the weather. There are a ton of restaurants (many Thai restaurants—my favorite!) as well as a large shopping district. There are beaches less than 15 minutes from my apartment and the Port Hills cast beautiful shadows on the horizon. Currently the weather is perfect: ~75 degrees during the day and ~60 degrees at night. It will get colder as the season turns to fall, but as of now, it is awesome. The people are very friendly—not quite Australian friendly, but very friendly nonetheless. In my opinion, it is a perfect town.
The University of Canterbury is absolutely beautiful. It is so nice to be back on a real campus as opposed to a downtown office building. The campus is very green—trees, plants and a small stream running through. The Law School building is top-notch. It has all the features of a U.S. Law School—law library, wireless internet access, research librarians and state of the art classrooms. I have three Kiwi (New Zealanders) professors and one Scottish professor. They are all very entertaining and have made class enjoyable thus
Mountain Lake
Amazingly blue! far.
Prior to arriving in New Zealand, I contacted the local Disc Golf President (Pete) and asked him if I could participate in league play—he said yes. Since then, he or other guys from the group have driven by my apartment to pick me up for the tri-weekly games (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday). I am the least experienced of the group—I have only been playing for three years, whereas the other three regulars have been playing at least 12 years—and have been getting my butt kicked. Pete has been playing for 25 years—he is a former world champion and is unbelievable—and is the best of the fivesome. The Christchurch Disc Golf Course (Jellie Park) is beautiful and is exactly what I expected New Zealand terrain/landscape to look like. The guys have invited me to go to Queenstown with them during the weekend of March 10th for the New Zealand National Disc Golf Championship. I told them to count me in!
My apartment is fantastic! My roommates are great guys and I think that we are going to have a great time living together. I have my own room (Yeah!!!) and the apartment complex is located in the heart
of downtown Christchurch. The apartment complex has two movie theatres in which to watch digital cable TV (I get ESPN—Yeah!!), DVD’s or TV shows downloaded on to computers (I have watched both “24” and “The Office” regularly). There are outdoor patios within the building and balconies that overlook the city—really fantastic place!
I absolutely loved my time in Melbourne and loved the country of Australia. However, I have a feeling that I may end up loving Christchurch and New Zealand more—only time will tell.
Please keep me updated with your lives.
Andy
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Aunt Laura
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You seem much more at home in New Zealand!! So glad for you. Things here are the same. Going to AZ for Spring break to take in some Spring training games. Gotta love those Royals.... Love and miss you