Christchurch – Day Three

While yesterday was park day in Christchurch, today was museum day. I don’t always have a chance to visit museums when I travel. I am always glad when I do make an effort to do so. When I was weighing how much time to spend in each place, I was balancing two things. One is time. While I would love to see everything on the island, I am mindful that I don’t want to be going all of the time. One reason I decided on Christchurch and the number of nights here is because I figured I could do some day trips and also have the time to explore the city at my leisure.

 

I went to the Art Center. Part of the block is still under construction. One of the buildings that is opened is the Great Hall. There is a large stained-glass window from 1938 that was in dedication to college students who died in WWI. There was a family there while I was there with American accents. We started chatting, and I learned that they now live in Auckland. Long story short, before they departed, she told me she was a blogger and gave me her card. I was like, “So am I.” I so need to have some business cards done. Devlin, if you are reading this, I will be coming to you for help with the design.

 

Here is her blog. Blog goals!

 

https://www.albomadventures.com/

 

Another blog goal is a person who has liked some of my travel posts from this trip.

 

https://lovetravellingallaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/

 

The next stop was the Canterbury Museum. There was a mummy and artifacts from Egypt. Egypt is still high on my places of where I want to go. There was also some dinosaur bones. There were some exhibits about the first settlers and their primitive ways of life. My favorite exhibit was Hākui: Women of Kāi Tahu. It featured the lives and legacies of women.  The word hākui is a word used as sign of respect to a female elder. It was a well done exhibit, and it was interesting to read some of the stories.

 

Then I went to the Christchurch Art Gallery. I always end up staying way longer than I plan when I go to museums. A few minutes after I arrived, they announced that a free guided tour would be begin in five minutes, so I thought, “What the heck.” There were four of us (including the guide), but one of the ladies had to leave. It was supposed to be a 45-minute tour, but we ended up talking and walking for two hours. As most of you know, I am not a fan of modern art. There were some good oil on canvas pieces that I liked tremendously. There was also sculptures from the artist Len Lye. They had moving parts that would start at intervals. The artist was very interested in movement. The two that stood out for me were Grass and Fire Bush. I loved the red in the latter.

 

Today has been very inspiring. I need to make a habit of staying connected to art.

 

Today’s blooper. I am extremely sensitive to being followed around when shopping. It happens way more than it should. And to the cut to the chase, it’s because of my skin color. This is the reason I stopped shopping at the Trader Joe’s near my house. It’s hard to not “look guilty” or “look suspicious” when the real reason is my skin color. Anyway, out of the corner of my eye, I kept seeing this guard whenever I passed this one area. It was getting annoying as hell. Long story short, the guard was a statue that was on display. I am smiling and laughing writing this. But to quote a former coworker, “Just because I am paranoid doesn’t mean they are not following me.” Or maybe it is “talking about me.”

Photo of me, my hostess, Miliana, and housemate, Johannes.

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Christchurch

Today ended up being a day in the park kind of day. I started off at Hagley Park. Today is a holiday in New Zealand (it’s Monday), so there were a lot of families out and about enjoying the nice weather.

 

After that, I went to Mona Vale, which is a very nice garden. It felt so far away from the city, even though it was quite close. It reminded me of the Arboretum. Because it is spring, the roses weren’t out, but I imagine the rose garden is quite nice. Speaking of spring, I forgot to mention that I saw a lilac tree yesterday in Akaroa. I smelled it before I saw it. I so love the smell of lilacs. It was a special treat. The Avon River flows through the Mona Vale, and I got some good shots there.

 

The highlight of the day for me was Riccarton Bush. I felt like I was in forest when I ventured into the grove area. The area is the remnants of the Canterbury original forest. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went, but it blew my mind. It was so quiet. No city noise. Just the sound of birds and animals moving around. I would recommend this place as a much see, and it is free. According to my guidebook, some of the kahikatea trees are half-millennium-old. I really like tree trunks, and I like to see old roots that seem to pop out of the ground. The roots run deep.

 

I also went to the Botanical Gardens, which is next to Hagley Park. I enjoyed it. I don’t think I saw all of it. I was started to get tired, and I had been walking quite a bit by then.

 

But alas, I did keep walking. I had been eyeing the tram even though I thought it was kind of pricey. So I decided to walk the loop map. It didn’t take me anywhere new, but it was a sure fire way to see all of the main spots in the center. I also walked it out of order as I added in the parks where they fell along the route.

 

So I took the route: Cathedral Junction – New Regent Street – Victoria Square (which is closed) – Casino – Cranmer Square – Hagley Park Corner – I then ventured off course to go Mona Vale and Riccarton Bush and the Botanic Garden – before coming back on line for Worcester Boulevard – Art Gallery – City Punting – Cathedral Square – Mill Island – The Terrace – Ballantynes – Manchester – The Crossing – High Street. So a little out of order. It was a good walk though.

 

No bloopers to report. It’s only 8:30 p.m. right now, but I feel really tired so will go to bed early. I feel like I am getting good rest. I have just been doing a lot of walking.

 

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Lyttelton, Diamond Harbor, Gondola

When I rode the metro bus from the airport to the stop near my B&B, I noticed that the station was playing a lot of 80’s music. Today when I took the metro bus to Lyttelton, I noticed the same thing. Gotta love 80’s music.

Lyttelton sounded like an interesting place to do a day trip, mainly because it is a port city. It is about 7 miles southeast of central Christchurch. The first stop was the wharf to take a ferry over to Diamond Harbor. I wasn’t sure on the timing of the ferry, and I ended up having to wait 50 minutes. So I walked around and got some pictures of the port activity. It is so nice to see a working waterfront. I took the ferry over to Diamond Harbor. I did a little bit of walking around and started down this trail before it was time to return to catch the ferry back to Lyttelton. I am considering this trip prep for the Seattle half in November. Once back in Lyttelton, I walked around for a few hours. I walked up and down hills looking at different streets. The main street was London Street and there was a square called Albion Square. Originally, I thought about going tomorrow because they have a market, but I have plenty of market pictures from my travels. The homes there are on the slopes of Port Hills. I imagine I would be driving up and down them if I lived there. I walked by a church that had a funeral service happening. There was overflow into the courtyard, and I heard a little bit of the words. It felt very intimate. I could see were Lyttelton could be a place to come and relax for the day. It is very small and compact.

On the way to Lyttelton, the bus stopped at the gondola entrance, which was an aha moment. So I abbreviated my time between Diamond Harbor and Lyttelton to get off at the gondola stop on the way back since going there was in my plans anyway. In case we have not met, I do not like gondola rides. For me, they are up there with zip lining, which I did once…totally out of my comfort zone. On this ride, it stopped for what felt like two minutes toward the top. It was rocking, and I was like, “Why, Lord, why?” I didn’t panic though. Lol! It was beautiful. Very nice views of Christchurch and Lyttelton/Diamond Harbor (it was cool to look down and see where I had been). I did a bit of hiking. I followed the trail to the Cavendish Bluff Lookout. I went a little further before turning back. The saying, “What goes up, must come down,” needs to be reversed when walking. “What goes down, must come up.” This is especially true when talking about steep hills. But certainly worth the view.

I need to do an article on travel saving tips. I can think of a few from this trip. Like there is a shuttle that leaves the Botanical Gardens that goes to the gondola. But for half the cost, you can take a local bus. Now granted, the local bus will take longer because of the number of stops, but if you are watching your dollars and not constrained for time, it’s one of the costs that could add up. I also want to write an article about balancing travel. For me the sweet spot is three nights, at least, in each city. More if you want to do day trips from the spot. But one or two nights per place is exhausting, and I have done that before.

I would like to add a bloopers part to the travel blog posts. These stories will lean toward the funny. The thing about the blog is that it is the highlights. It doesn’t capture things like missed buses, wrong buses, wrong gates, or funny things that happen.

Today’s Blooper:

When I got to the gondola, I was told what time the last ride down available was. No problems. I had plenty of time. So then what had happened was, when I got back, the gate leading back to the building was locked. I tried walking around the corner to see if there was another entrance. There was not. So I had no choice, I had to climb the fence. I had not climbed a fence in a long time. I opted for the wooden part, not the wire part. One day, if I ever run for office, I am sure there is a video of me climbing that fence that will surface. I had to hike up my skirt and climb over. It was not graceful or pretty. I kept thinking, I am going to create an international incident with “breaking and entering.” But I made it over. Lol!

I actually wanted to write more and give more details about yesterday, but I feel the bed calling. Last night, I went to bed at 9:30 and got up at 8:30, so I am still tired from the trip over. Depending on what tomorrow bring, I may have time to write more. I also wanted to post more pictures. But I need to go to bed.

As always, I will edit when I get home.

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Christchurch – Day One

I made it safe and sound to Christchurch.

 

I left Tuesday evening and arrived Thursday morning. Christchurch is 20 hours ahead. So, it makes for an interesting dynamic in terms of jetlag. It’s kind of like traveling to the east coast, only it’s the next day.

 

I had a pleasant surprise when I got to the airport. My colleague, Christine, was also there. She too was heading down to Southern Cal but on a different flight.

 

On my flight from LAX to Auckland, I sat next to a woman younger than me. She had spent three weeks in the states touring. It turns out she is from Christchurch, and she gave me some ideas of things I can do here and perhaps some day trips.

 

Christchurch had two big earthquakes. One in 2010 and the other in 2011. They are still rebuilding. There is construction everywhere and a lot of buildings that are partly standing, damaged. There is also a lot of open spaces.

 

The first place I went was the Cardboard Cathedral. It is a transitional building for the neo-Gothic Cathedral that collapsed during the 2011 earthquake. It is made of cardboard, wood, and steel. Part of the structure reminds me of the paper towel tubes. I went back later for a choral evensong of the men’s choir. Both times, I met very kind and engaging people.

 

A street away is an art piece that has 185 white chairs and stools. They represent the 185 people killed in the 2011 earthquake.

 

I went to Cathedral Square and saw the ruins of the Christchurch Cathedral. The cost to rebuild seems to be cost prohibitive, which is understandable.

 

There is a niffy mall called Re:START mall. When they were starting to rebuild, they used a lot of shipping containers. I have seen a lot of containers in the city in general.

 

I also went along Victoria Street, which is supposed to be a happening neighborhood. There was a church I wanted to see, Knox Presbyterian Church, but it is only opened until 12:00. I did see a cool Victorian Clock Tower along the way. Another trending neighborhood is New Regent Street. I think the goal is to recreate places where people can come and be social.

 

I basically did a lot of walking as I was trying to figure out where everything is and how everything comes together. A lot of streets end and then begin again, so it’s kind of weird.

 

For this leg of my trip I will be staying at an Airbnb. The hostess is extremely nice and friendly. The place is in a great location, very close to the city center.

 

It is only 8:30 p.m. here, but I am looking forward to laying my tired head down. I did get some sleep on the plane, but it is not the same.

 

As always, I will edit when I get home.

 

More later

 

love. hug. xoxo. ltb.