Blogs from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 159

Well after 2 days of travelling I have finally arrived in Christchurch although I can't complain, the trip hasn't been bad.. While travelling here I met up with a group of medical students and some doctors from the USA who were on their way to India for a missions trip with an organization so I hung out with them quite a bit during layovers. We had an eight hour layover in Singapore which was really nice. The airport there is amazing, very beautiful and they even had free internet for passengers, showers and an outdoor rooftop pool if you wanted to swim between flights! They also offered two tours for free-one was an island tour and a city tour. We didn't have time for the island tour by the time so we did the city tour ... read more

We woke up pretty late for us, 10am, had breakfast then headed out for a wander. We walked right down the river from our hostel into the Botanical Gardens and Hagely Park, pretty much the centre of town, a wee bit behind the main shopping bit. It's not great weather, not bad, just a bit breezy, as usual I've got my shorts on but had to put a jumper on, it keeps raining in bits too. We have a walk through the park, it's real nice and relaxed even though it's a Saturday afternoon, the flower show is on and the town is really excited about this, I don't know if it's for the same reason as Dundee gets excited when the flower show is at Camperdown, i.e. late licence but everyone's happy anyway. There's loads ... read more

Woke late today after a great sleep in a very comfy bed and a very quiet hostel, just what we need for a couple of days. It's been raining all night and is still raining when we leave the hostel for the day. Raincoats packed we head to the city centre to do a few jobs and to see what we can do in Christchurch in the rain. The city looks really English, a bit like York maybe. We wandered the streets, of which there are many, in search of a bag to carry excess luggage to make our backpacks a little lighter and easier to carry around. We went to the Cathedral and contemplated the botanical gardens but decided to leave that till tomorrow when the weather could possibly be a bit brighter. Not much ... read more

I arrived in New Zealand early in the morning on Sunday, January 23rd, after a long overnight flight from LA. When I arrived in Christchurch I checked into the Windsor Private Hotel, which is a turn of the century home that has been converted into a bed & breakfast, and then I went exploring. It was a beautiful day that I spent walking through the streets of Christchurch - I visited Cathedral Square with it’s large gothic church and stone walkways, I walked through the many parks along the Avon River watching the punts, which are similar to the gondolas in Venice, and the ducks go by, I learned the history of the surrounding region in the Canterbury Museum and I walked through the verdant forests and colorful fields of flowers and grass in the botanical ... read more

Evening all. Firstly, I would like to thank Matt Grest of Veronica Moser technologies© for implementing a new gallery system to deliver pictures of my varying escapades to you lucky people. The new system lives at : www.steveshinn.plus.com The navigation system is pretty obvious, but for PlusNet’s Content and design team heres some detailed instructions… 1.Turn on the computer….2… login into windows 3… oh, how I do make myself laugh. So.. I’ve got to NZ and I’ve been in Christchurch for a week. Due to the realisation that I have become horizontally challenged over the last couple of months due to excess beer consumption, I have decided to do some damn exercise. What else is New Zealand good for but Mountain Biking!! - It’s a myriad of trails, mountains, rivers, lakes, more mountains and forests. I’ve ... read more