Our first visit to Christchurch

How nice to wake up and realize we’re really here in Christchurch. Our holiday home is in a nice residential area just a ten minute walk from “downtown”. Ed and Colleen fire up the coffee pot and we shake off the cobwebs and sketch out the day’s strategy, that is to see as much as we can on foot of this lovely city. Our first goal is to see the cities namesake cathedral in the city center. We will post some pictures of this impressive building. We challenged ourselves by climbing the 170 step spiral staircase up the church steeple for some great views of the city. We found a wonderful art center located in an Oxford style complex of building with a concert on the green and vendors selling all types of international foods. We enjoyed a picnic style lunch of falafels and Thai and Indian cuisine.. Much of the remainder of the day was spent at Hagley Park and it’s extensive Botanical Gardens. The day was warm and sunny and we all took tons of pictures. Towards evening we went back briefly to the cathedral for what we thought was to be an organ recital but turned out instead to be a church service. Phil had scary flashbacks to his Roman catholic upbringing and encouraged the four friends to slip out of church before his mental health was affected. Our remaining goal for the day was to gather food provisions for the next few days and we were able to find a fine Pac & Save Market in town where we stocked up on such necessities as TP, Wine, Vegimite, cookies and laundry soap.

We returned to our temporary home for a nice dinner of salad, bread, cheese and some nice red wine. Then out to the porch to view the stars of the southern hemisphere. Colleen tried to cheat at our satellite-viewing contest, claiming that she had seen 3 satellites in quick succession. One “satellite” turned out to a star, one was a confirmed sighting (that is, corroborated by another viewer, and the other was a figment of her imagination. Satellite viewing contest score to date: Colleen 1, the rest of us, Zip.

This is an absolutely beautiful city. Trees and flowers everywhere. Stately buildings with lots of character interspersed with newer structures who will possibly grow up to be the same. A HUGE park area in the center of the city. Friendly people who are quick with a "Hello" and a smile.

After our shopping excursion, we needed a device to carry our provisions that needed some refrigeration. Phil and Ed's assignment for the morning before our trip to Oamaru was to find and purchase a little Cooler---which is referred to here as a "Chilly Bin." At home, this would be a fairly simple task to pop over to a Target or such a department store and make this purchase. But here we do not even know the names of such stores...let alone know where they might be located. So, armed with a vague direction of where such a store might be, and a map of the city, we ventured forth. After several false leads and much walking, and after dispelling the myth about guys being resistant to asking for directions, we found a store that not only had A Chilly Bin, but MANY Chilly Bins! Plus, we were able to find an absolutely perfect Bin...AND at a bargain price of half off!($!9.95 NZ)---thus dispelling the myth about men being lousy shoppers.

But everyone we encountered was more than eager to assist us, despite the fact that we don't know how to speak proper English.

We are off to Oamaru!