Our last days in New Zealand from 6 months of touring........
Our last stop in New Zealand ends sadly tonight in the lovely town of Christchurch, our new favorite city in New Zealand. The city center is a compact marvel of shops, parks, and restaurants, anchored by the Christchurch Cathedral and graced by the meandering Avon and its many bridges.
We spent our first evening dining at the Curator's House on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens, then took a starlight stroll through the great, shadowy trees-wonderfully romantic-especially with the colorful Peacock Fountain lit in the night.
Over the next two days we visited the museum, the arts centre, which occupy the Victorian Gothic buildings of the old University of Canterbury, home of Ernest Rutherford Nobel-Prize winning physicist who first split the atom.
The old campus is now filled with galleries, music venues, cafes, cinemas--the Court Theater, where we attended a local original Kiwi play called The Gods of Warm Beer. It was very charming, quite clever, and packed with good old ribald Kiwi humor that we love so much.
We spent one afternoon punting the Avon, strolling the botanic gardens, riding the trolley and browsing many book shops and antique stores. Sarah enjoyed taking many photographs in hidden corners throughout the city.
What a wonderful city--and an amazing country-- we will be so sad to say goodbye tomorrow morning as we board our flight to Cape Town.
Kia Ora New Zeland!
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