Blogs from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 155

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 26th 2005

When we visited New Zealand in April of 2004, Rich and I had taken a flightseeing tour on the South Island, visiting some of the locations where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed. One place we visited was Mount Sunday, the place where the Golden Hall of Edoras (the Rohan capital on a hill) was filmed. On that trip we flew past it and viewed it from a few kilometres away; when I discovered a brochure for a company that takes you out there in a 4WD vehicle to stand atop the mountain, I vowed that I would do that someday. Today my day finally came. We drove ourselves to Methven this morning to meet our tour vehicle. A side benefit of this trip is that it gave us one last chance to plunge ... read more

nobody knows the troubles I've seen

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 22nd 2005

Lisa J Allen

I must admit I didn't think this would be as hard as it has been. I have my good days and my bad days. Yesterday was a really bad day, so bad that I wanted to drop everything and come home. Today, however, has been a better day and I think I am going to stay and work through things. I am still working at Base Backpackers for accommodation making beds. Although the work sucks the people that work here are cool and I have actually managed to make some friends. For the time being I think I am going to stay at Base for a while. The location is fantastic--it is right in front of cathedral square, in fact I am looking at the cathedral from Base as I type--and I have created a little ... read more

New Zealand's Oldest City

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 21st 2005

ronlaughlin

New Zealand's oldest and second largest city has a lot to offer the visitor. Accommodation at all levels, a casino to try your luck, the finest in cafes, restaurants, and plenty of retail therapy. Walk along the Avon River or perhaps a boat ride. Take the tram to orient yourself to the city and what it has to offer. It is the place to find top quality ballooning, a vertical thrill ride called Slingshot at 15 The New Brighton Mall or maybe for those less interested in adrenaline rushes the Christchurch museums are spectacular. Make sure you visit the Arts Centre of Christchurch for sureand the Botanic Gardens. Maybe a Canterbury Brewery Museum Tour. Booking essential. Located at 36 St Asaph Street. Email Victoria Carling at: victoria.carling@lion-nathan.co.nz. Christchurch is the staging area for the Antarctic. ... read more

A Hard Day's Night

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 18th 2005

Breakfast of Champions

Kenneth Alford

In Which Our Intrepid Explorers Learn The Truth About Global Circumnavigation Among the great lies you tell yourself (including "childbirth isn't that painful" and "I'll lose those 10 pounds after the holidays"), we must now include, "It's an overnight flight. We'll sleep on the plane." We just spent our first day in New Zealand on two hours of sleep. Maybe. I think that's probably a generous estimation. Thankfully the flight was smooth and left/arrived on time. But the cabin was hotter than the seventh circle of hell. Somewhere in the middle of the night, we formed a circle and roasted marshmallows over each other. At approximately 4 a.m., we stormed business class and sacrificed a guy wearing an eye mask in a futile attempt to appease the gods of temperature control. But did we let this ... read more

employed . . . I think

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 17th 2005

Lisa J Allen

I just came to realise that this is a website for travel blogs, seeing as I am not really traveling at the time it seems a bit strange for me to continue posting on this site. However, I am lazy and I am going to keep posting on this site because at this point it would be annoying to register on a new site, add all of my blog subscribees names and e-mails, and so on and so forth, therefore I am going to keep posting on this site :) Anyway, things are going well for me in Christchurch. Although Wanaka was beautiful, I think my sanity will remain in tact if I stay here. Working for accommodation is not the greatest of jobs. It requires getting up by 9.30 to make beds, clean bathrooms, and ... read more

I'm back . . .

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 10th 2005

Lisa J Allen

Well, my time in Wanaka was a little sort lived . . . I'm back in Christchurch. After a long conversation with my mom on Wednesday I decided that going back to Christchurch would be the best thing to do. Although Wanaka is beautiful, I just don't know if there would have been enough there to keep me occupied. There also was the problem that most places in Wanaka weren't going to start hiring for summer until the beginning of December and since it is a small town, I can assume that they would want to hire other Kiwis rather than some crazy American. I feel that this will be the best situation for me, there is always work in a city and I may be able to find a rugby team/club/group to play with :) ... read more

From Kaikoura to Christchurch

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 6th 2005

Christchurch

Targett

Greetings and salutations to one and all! We have now arrived in Christchurch, after visiting Kaikoura and seeing whales from an areoplane (wonderful!) and clambering up a local mountain in the Kaikoura seaward ranges, up to 1500m (called Mt Fyffe), with much spluttering as we walked up through the clouds and overcast grey sky, to find stunning blue sky (see South Island gallery) and strong winds! Life continues to be good, as we currently explore the pretty centre of Christchurch city. The weather is mainly fine, with odd days of cloudyness. Before I forget, I would just like to thank a couple of people for some outstanding gadgets we were given before we left - as we have been using them most days out here! - The Kinetic torch and Leatherman tools, a great MP3 player ... read more

Oh the places I've been . . .

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 5th 2005

Lisa J Allen

Greetings from Christchurch, the garden city of New Zealand. Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island and is also the second largest city in the country with a population of around 370,000. Christchurch is a nice, but it's just another city. My plan was to make my way to Christchurch, find a job and stay here for a while. Now that I am actually here my plans have changed. I like both Wanaka and Queenstown better than Christchurch because both of those cities were small and more secluded and surronded by lakes and mountains. Christchurch, to me, is just another city--- it has large buildings and shopping malls, along with all other modern conveniences anyone could ever ask for. This is not the New Zealand I have seen over the last month and this ... read more

Rained out in Arthur's Pass

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 3rd 2005

Lake Rototiti

jtq_99

Well, we are currently in Christchurch right now trying to find some transportation. Taking shuttles everywhere has gotten old, and just too expensive. After leaving Greymouth we headed back to Arthur's Pass where we attempted to ski a few months back, but this time we were going tramping. Needless to say, this tramping expedition didn't go as well as our previous trip in Nelson Lakes. The weather was against us, I got sick, then there was no where to stay, and on and on and on....Our plan was a 6 day tramp starting on the east side of the Southern Alps, hiking over Harman Pass and back down the western side of the Alps, with a stop at a Julia Hut where there are thermal pools to soak. But, we never got that far. First off, ... read more

Yet Another Day in Christchurch

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch October 22nd 2005

Rakaia Gorge Walkway

jefe

Joe and I had a really nice dinner last night with my friends Kris and Alex out in Lyttleton. We took the 28 from the city center up past the CHC gondola, through the green hills and into the tunnel. When we emerged we were at Lyttleton harbor, a small port with the feel of a quaint old fishing town. Lyttleton has the last working timeball which was used until the 1930s so that ships could synchronize their time pieces. It is where the ball drop in New York City on New Years eve originates from. ( http://www.historic.org.nz/Timeball/indexTimeball.html ) We met Kris at her house and walked to the Volcano. I knew Kris from my first season on the ice and have seen her in NZ each trip since. The Volcano is a Mexican restaurant in ... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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