Christchurch

Cathedral in Christchurch with the beautiful millennium sculpture named “Chalice”.

After driving out to Akaroa (a city out on the Banks Peninsula that was created by 2 volcanoes) and seeing the lighthouse there, we headed to Godley Head for another lighthouse. This was one of those ‘difficult’ ones to get to. After driving on a very narrow twisting and hilly road for about 5 miles, we came to a parking lot. Then, after a tramp down a steep hill, the lighthouse could be seen on a ledge in the side of a cliff. Couldn’t get all the way to it, but found a place to see it pretty well. After tramping back to the campervan, we managed to make it back on the narrow road and into Christchurch (the 2nd largest city in New Zealand with 350,000 people).

One of the main attractions in Christchurch is the International Antarctic Centre. This is the main departure point for Antarctic activities and the visitor centre is very educational with:
· A very cold room with snow and wind to simulate what it is like being there
· A great movie with scenes from the Antarctic
· A rehabilitation centre for blue penguins (this was the big crowd pleaser)
· Displays of equipment used and what it is like living in Antarctica

The next day was a beautiful day and we boarded the Tranz Alpine train for a trip thru the Canterbury plain, up and over Arthur’s Pass in the Southern Alps down to the west coast city of Greymouth. Because the tracks were being repaired, we rode on coaches (buses) from Arthur’s Pass down to Greymouth. It turned out that this was bonus, since we got to go up and over the beautiful pass instead of going thru a long tunnel on the train. After spending an hour in Greymouth, we boarded the coaches for the return trip to Arthur’s Pass and the train ride back to Christchurch. The scenery was great and the ride was smooth, but the day was long and tiring.

Today we took the city bus into the city centre of Christchurch and rode the downtown tram and walked to see the Cathedral, art museum, Canterbury Museum, Arts Centre, and a quilt shop. We were fortunate to be in the cathedral when different singing groups were singing Christmas songs a cappella. One of the groups was the silver medalist in the world barbershop quartet completion and they were outstanding. All of the songs sounded very familiar and it seemed a little out of place for them to be singing ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland’ when it is almost summer here. We also got to see Father Christmas (Santa Claus) riding into town in a horse-drawn carriage.

One of the gorges seen on the roundtrip Tranz Alpine train ride from Christchurch to Greymouth and back.

Pania, one of the rescued blue penguins [with a damaged beak] that we saw at the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. We could take photos here (not like in our previous update).

The Akaroa lighthouse – in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula southeast of Christchurch.

Australian Crested Grebes – It was fascinating to watch them do their mating dance with both birds bobbing & twisting their heads & the male fluffing his head feathers to impress his lady.