Friday, February 11, 2011 69 degrees 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
What a beautiful city. We can hardly believe the distruction just 11 days after our visit. The Amsterdam donated $5,000 and with the passengers donations the total is over $10,000.
Hardly a month goes by in Christchurch without a festival staged by one organization or another. One of the biggest and best festivals has been run for more than 20 years by - Summertimes, which kicks off with a New Year’s Eve party and includes free concerts and cultural events through late February. Offers free music concerts and other activities in Hagley Park. The festival of Flowers & Romance is held in late January or early February. How fortunate we were to have this 22nd festival taking place on our visit. Cathedral square, in front of the church was the center of local activity with a singer from Iceland performing as well as other street artists.  |
| Sailing into Christchurch |
Our ship docked in Cashin Quay near Lyttleton which is linked to Christchurch via a long tunnel. Christchurch is the South Island’s largest city and a place of natural beauty and tradition. It is filled with public parks and private gardens and the town center is reserved as a pedestrian zone. Gothic style buildings dominate the skyline, and the gentle Avon River bubbles right through the heart of town. Antique punts still ply the river (rudderless boats propelled by punters who push a stick into the riverbed.
Christchurch is known as the “Garden City”. The Gothic style Anglican Christchurch Cathedral is the central landmark. Completed in 1864 the interior is a “no expense spared” creation. A statue of noted Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, gazes across the Avon River. He lost his life in an attempt to be the first man to reach the South Pole. The inner city is compact and was easy to explore by foot.
We walked along Worcester Street to the Arts Center. It is one of the most significant clusters of heritage buildings in New Zealand, now transformed into an internationally renowned centre for the arts, culture and creativity. It houses more than 40 specialty shops and studios as well as art galleries, theaters, and art-house cinemas. We then proceeded to the Canterbury Museum. We visited the Iwi Tawhito gallery to see intricate wooden carvings, tools and weapons of bone and greenstone from the time when moa hunters stalked their giant prey. We met the Canterbury Museum’s mummy. We visited the Bird Hall to see beautiful displays and dioramas of many species, including rare and extinct native birds. We also visited the Paua Shell House.
On leaving the museum we visited the Christchurch Botanic Gardens then walked up Hereford St. to the Bridge of Remembrance. This Oamaru limestone memorial arch was built in memory of the soldiers who crossed the river here from King Edward Barracks on their way to the battlefields of Europe during World War I.
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