New Zealand: Christchurch

Transalpine Railway

Admit it. You haven't hiked a lot and you're saying to
yourself 'I could never do that'. Well here's something
for everybody...a train ride. Instead of just a break
from riding the bus it turned out to be a real treat.

At first the valley was very much like what I'd been seeing
while hiking, green and wet.

But when I got to the other side of the mountains (through a
long dark tunnel) everything was different including the weather

The final leg was along the Canterbury Plain.
Christchurch, here we come

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Christchurch

OK. So it's not the coolest name out there. Try putting it
to music. Insert Christchurch into the Batman theme and you'll
start to feel it.

Cathedral Square is the heart of Christchurch and most of the
highlights are within a ten minute walk from there

You can climb up the bell tower for a good view of the Square
and its surroundings

There's a special trolley that makes a loop around downtown

The trolley goes through some pedestrian-only alleys that have
been converted to shopping plazas.

Even the prostitution business is tastefully worked into the
landscape

This is the Canterbury College campus, now used for art galleries
and performance space. At night, they turn out the lights and you
can bring a flashlight for the 'haunted house' tour.

The Botanic Gardens have acres and acres of walkways and gardens.

This is a Maori robe worn by two members of the same family when
they graduated from the police adademy. Maori weaving is even
part of the artwork on the walls of the Cathedral.

Da-da da-da da......CHRISTCHURCH!!!
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New Zealand Oddities

Most of us associate wilderness with freedom. On Stewart
Island I guess they have other ideas.