Some Views of Christchurch

Well, I'm in Christchurch now.  It's on the Southern Island.  It's a smallish city.  Fun, but getting a little cold now that it's late Fall.  Here are a few photos.

These are the fountains at City Hall.

Cathedral Plaza - it's the core of town.  But I didn't take a picture of the cathedral!  (But the link has some good ones - better than I could have taken, actually.....)   But there all are sorts of things going on there - little vendors, cafes, the Information Center, the tram.  It's sort of happening, in a small-town sort of way!  :-)

One of the cool things they've done here is build up a Cultural Precinct.  It extends from the Plaza across the Avon River toward the Botanical Gardens.  The Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum, lots of galleries, and the Art Centre are all there.  The Art Centre used to be the University of Christchurch.  It's a very cool old complex.  It has galleries, live theaters, movie theaters, cafes, artist workshops and restaurants.  It's very cool.

This is a sculpture out front.  I liked it.

This is the Peacock Fountain at the main entrance of the Botanical Gardens.  I was wondering why it's called the Peacock Fountain because there are no peacocks to be seen.....then I read that Mr Peacock donated it.  There you go! 

There's a Conservatory.  The cacti were pretty cool.  They've painted the wall behind the cacti like Arizona - I guess to make them feel at home....

Tomorrow I leave for London.  I fly back through Hong Kong.  That will be a long flight but fortunately I bought a novel by Orhan Pamuk for the flight.  It's called The New Life.

Yesterday I took a train ride across the Southern Alps.  I'll post some of those pictures next.

The next time I come to NZ I'll spend more time down here.  There are some amazing things to see farther south - the fjords, the glaciers, a few more cities along the coast, amazing lakes.  There are hot air balloons, boat trips, etc.  It will be amazing!