We’ve had a great walking tour of Christchurch. I’d say we clocked about 10 miles in all. When we arrived on Saturday after that long flight from LA to Christchurch, we elected to follow the advice to keep going rather than sleep (which is what we really wanted to do). We found a brewpub that sounded cool and tried to locate it without success. We wound up at the Riverside Market and were overwelmed by the number of businesses and restautants, and it was very crowded. We did not find the pub we were looking for, but did find Shaka Bros little restaurant with a pickup truck inside. There’s a piece of plywood on the bed of the truck with stools all around it. Surprise! We had a couple of beers.

We walked around a bit and then drove back to the hotel. I’m grateful to Hal for doing all the driving. The steering wheel is on the opposite side of what we’re used to and you also drive on the opposite side of the road. At one point we were on what we thought was a one way road, and since we were turning right, we were in the far right lane and a big black truck turned the corner and almost hit us. He stopped and waited patiently until we moved over. If we were in NY, I’m sure there would have been some horn blowing and obscenities shouted.

Back at the hotel, it was happy hour!! That’s when we met Sam, a really nice young man who grew up about an hour south of Christchurch. There was no one else in the bar so we had a great conversation that included – “What do you call that?” See if you can translate the New Zealand term for some items to American: jandals, chilly bin and bisquiting. We finally crashed at 7pm and slept until 8:30 am.

Day two we walked to Quake City, a museum dedicated to the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. We watched a movie that included several accounts from people regarding their experience when the earthquake hit. It was very emotional to watch but really brought to life what it must have been like. Next we walked to the Canterbury Museum, which is just a pop-up site as the main building is under renovations. We saw an amazing crocheted temple and the link to the creator’s website is below. It took them 2 and 1/2 years to complete. We then headed back to Riverside Market still trying to find the Canterbury Pub and was not successful. We wound up having a beer at the Kaiser Beer Garden where we met Guillermo who wrote up a list of must-see places on the South Island. He’s from Spain originally and spent one year in high school in South Dakota and doesn’t plan on going back. A couple sitting at the table next to us overheard our coversation and gave us some additional tips. So far, everyone we’ve met have been quite friendlfy and helpful. Back to the hotel and happy hour with Sam.

On Monday, we walked to the nearest postal service which was difficult find as it was inside of a medical building, inside of the pharmacy. The pharmacist also serves as a postal worker. Then we walked to the botanical gardens which were lovely and it was a lot of walking!! At the Cafe we had libations and a yummy treat sitting in the sun. At the table near us there was a mom and 3 kids eating fries. Several seagulls were watching intently. When mom turned her head the youngest child threw a French fry on the ground and now there were about 20 gulls fighting over it.

Leaving the gardens we noticed a cool building across the street and when we investigated we discovered The Cellar Door offering wine tasting. Sitting in the warm sun sipping wine and eating cheese was awesome. Back to the hotel and happy hour with Sam.

On Tuesday we finally drove somewhere. We went to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve and were so lucky that is was a school holiday lol. The car park was full so we had to park a bit down the road. We then drove back to the hotel and did some more walking exploration. Because we were staying in the city center, there was lots to see.

There are links to some of the attractions we liked and to photos in my Google drive. Now on to Australia!!

https://riverside.nz/
https://quakecity.co.nz/
https://www.ccc.govt.nz/parks-and-gardens/christchurch-botanic-gardens
Home

https://www.canterburymuseum.com/
https://www.lissyandrudi.com/

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UqB8TQjGcvDbDckj8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Thah9s5vCGsPZ1Ev9