Christchurch

We split off again for the start of Monday's adventure. Debbie left for a walk around a supposedly art-y region of the downtown leaving me behind to do some backups of our photos onto DVD's. Once done, I also set out to explore the not-so-mean streets of Christchurch.

I stuck to the streets closer to the Cathedral Square area, investigating several antique shops. One "Art Deco" themed store has a large movie projector that caught my fancy. I took some pictures, but couldn't figure how I'd get it in my luggage.



I also took a fancy to a model steamboat that was about 24 inches long, made from steel and wood with a working steam engine under the top deck. Unfortunately, I was a bit late, as it was already sold, although the NZ$2500 price tag would certainly have prevented me from coming home with it. I stopped for lunch at a streetside Turkish cafe and took a picture of a large palm tree in the sidewalk.


We met up around 3:00 for a drink in Cathedral Square, and then set off to do the Gondola ride to the top of some tall hill. A 20 minute city bus ride takes you to the outskirts of town, and directly to the base of the gondola installation.

The gondolas have doors that automatically open and close at the top and bottom, but I was a little surprised to find the bottom entry platform unattended. We watched as a couple of gondolas went by, and then just stepped into one as it was carried slowly past. The ride up is pretty quiet, though the ventilation is seriously lacking, and the sun beating through the wraparound windows made the interior unbearably hot.


The view from the top is panoramic, and very scenic. Here are some shots we took while at the top.




There is a road along the top that Debbie thought might give you an idea about NZ road engineering (and driving - guess which way that car is going?).


We rode back down (which for some reason had a more impressive view - I guess we didn't look down on the way up) and then caught the bus back to the city centre.


We walked around a little while in search of a restaurant-filled street called Oxford Terrace, and after one unnecessary detour we found ourselves there. Oxford Terrace is a short stretch of street in which seven or eight restaurants have opened up side by side, each with a deep streetside patio. We stopped in a couple of them for a drink,


and then settled on the Mexican themed one for dinner (the Coyote Platter for 2 - a.k.a. fajitas for 2).


We took a taxi ride back to our hotel and then did our packing in preparation for a ridiculously early start on Tuesday. Debbie read herself to sleep while I spent a couple of hours sorting through pictures before retiring.