Qantas 747 Business Class San Francisco - Sydney
Qantas Business Class Lounge, Sydney Airport
Qantas A330 Business Class Sydney - Auckland
Holiday Inn Auckland Airport - Review
The Pavilions Hotel, Christchurch - Review
What We Saw In Christchurch
Hilton Queenstown Resort and Spa - Review
What We Saw In Queenstown including Doubtful Sound Tour
Avani Metropolis Hotel, Auckland - Review
What We Saw In Auckland
Oceans Mooloolaba - Review
What We Saw On The Sunshine Coast
Brisbane Marriott - Review
Qantas 787 Business Class Brisbane - Los Angeles
We really didn't have a plan for Christchurch except that D knew she wanted to do some hiking and we had a vague idea of things that were close to us. It was raining the day we arrived and while we got settled into our hotel room. Fortunately it dried up that evening and we walked down the street to Sun Dog Diner for dinner. Our American waiter gave us lots of suggestions and even recommended a hike, which was something D really wanted to do. We kept his list of recommendations and ended up seeing a number of items on it. We were fortunate that we had absolutely fantastic weather for the rest of our stay.
Hiking from Godley Head to Taylors Mistake
Christchurch is about two-thirds of the way up the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. Godley Park is a bit of a peninsula that marks the entrance into Lyttleton Harbour. This hike takes you along the coastline and has beautiful views. We took an Uber to reach the trailhead. While the trail can be hiked in either direction, I'm glad we started here as there seemed to be a bit more downhill terrain than uphill.
 |
| New Zealand's South Island (from Google Maps) |
 |
| Greater Christchurch Area - park is the little green area at bottom right (from Google Maps) |
 |
| Godley Head to Taylors Mistake Hike (from Google Maps) |
As it was one of the first beautiful weekends of spring, we saw lots of locals walking and running the trail from end to end. With views like these it was hard not to stop every few yards to take photos!
This is also the site of the Godley Battery Compound which has a number of World War II observation posts. Several of the deserted buildings are open and when inside you could see nothing but the ocean in the distance. Sail straight east from here and the next land you'll encounter is Chile! Some of the buildings that were very close to the edge were closed as they sustained damage in the 2011 earthquakes and they're not safely shored up yet.
The trail ends at Taylors Mistake Beach. It's said this inlet got its name when two different captains by the name of Taylor sailed into it, thinking it was Lyttleton Harbour instead.
 |
| Taylors Mistake Beach (no, that's not us) |
From here we called another Uber and had it drop us off in the nearby town of Sumner. It's a cute little area with shops and restaurants and we dined at a burger joint called Joe's Garage. That night NZ's top-rated rugby team, the All Blacks, were due to play in the World Cup match in Japan. Unfortunately the time difference meant the game didn't start until 11 PM NZ time. So we took a nap that afternoon and went to a sports bar down the street to watch the game. Due to the late start time the crowd was not as large or as boisterous as it might otherwise have been but we still had a great time watching the first half there. We walked back to the hotel at halftime and watched the rest from our sofa. We're starting to understand the game just a little bit more each time we watch it!
Botanic Garden
Blessed with another gorgeous day we walked over the Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens. While not everything was blooming as it was still early spring, we saw lots of pretty colors and enjoyed the weather and the views.
 |
| Sundial in the middle of the rose garden |
 |
| New Zealand's World Peace Bell |
The Canterbury Museum is adjacent to the park and had a free museum about the history of the area. I recommend that to get a feel for the way the city developed.
City Centre
From the Gardens it was a short walk into the city centre (as they spell it). We enjoyed getting a flavor of what the city is like. As it was the weekend, we found one area with booths and homemade goods. We stopped for fudge and in an old building re-purposed with a number of small shops and a photo gallery. We also found souvenir shops where we could get our All Blacks gear!
 |
| Bridge of Remembrance, dedicated to the lives lost in World War I |
The Christchurch Cathedral is still in shambles from the 2011 earthquake. It was damaged so badly that the diocese wanted to shut it down but because it's so historic, citizens did not want to see it closed. After many years of lawsuits work has finally begun to restore it, beginning with stabilizing building to keep workers safe.
Final Thoughts
We really enjoyed our time here and the weather was certainly a factor in that. I'd love to come back and explore the area further someday.
No comments:
Post a Comment