Days 1 & 2 Christchurch 22-23rd October 2006
Arrival / Hotel
We arrived in Christchurch via internal flight from Auckland. One suitcase did not appear to have travelled with us! Took a $20 (for two) shuttle Bus to the hotel directly from the airport. This appeared good value but we later discovered they only charge $5 per person going the other way (captive audience on arrival I suspect). Checked into the Camelot Hotel in Cathedral Square directly overlooking the cathedral in the centre of Christchurch - how lucky is that!
The picture shows a view of the Camelot Hotel from
the Cathedral Tower. We were on the 4th floor (ground is 1 in NZ) just to
left of centre. The Cathedral opposite had a very good cafe serving
breakfast for $20 (about £7 for a full cooked breakfast and coffee) which we
made use of each day.
Cathedral and Square, views from the Cathedral Tower
City Walking Tour, Art Gallery and Views
There is an excellent Guided Walking Tour of the City starting 1000 from a little red booking booth on Cathedral Square. These walking tours by knowledgeable locals (in our case a retired policeman) are excellent. This one was scheduled for 2 hours but lasted nearly 3 and was excellent value for money at $10 and very very informative. The tour guide working the booth that morning was Mary Dryden who had relatives fro Haltwhistle 5 miles from us in England -small world or what. We exchanged e-mail addresses in case we could assist with her family history research. The views below show some of the sites of Christchurch city centre including the trams and the Art Gallery (very modern new building). The wire frame art piece was suspended in the Christchurch Craft Centre complex and the hidden wires holding it up were virtually invisible. The statue is of Scott facing South to the Antarctic.
Dog Warden
Yep - we saw this dog looking a little lost and it
was ever so friendly. It began following us after a chap had ejected it
from his car which the dog had tried to get in when he opened the door. So we
took hold of it and used the camera bag strap as a dog lead. It was ever
so obedient. A little further down the road a tram driver stopped and said "So
you've found it then - its been wandering around the city centre for 2 or 3
hours now". This endorsed our decision and we confidently took the dog to
the police contact point in Cathedral Square. It was a tagged dog and
easily traceable. A short time later we saw a police dog van arrive to
take control of the very wet and bedraggled poor little thing. Good deed
for the day done!