After one punctured tyre and a 6 hour car trip we arrive back to Christchurch we find it just as rainy and cold as we had left it 4 days previous. Ellie and I still hadn’t quite adapted to the weather and temperature change and make a beeline for the heater once we check into the hostel, and we don't stray too far from it until it's time to brave the outdoors again.
Museum- view from hostel
Christchurch is a pretty, British colonial looking city around the main streets and town square where a large Anglican cathedral forms the epicentre of the town. Street names, Gothic buildings, and statues of Queen Victoria give a nod to dear old England. You can stand on the bridge and watch tourists glide down the winding Avon river in little punting boats, while an old style tram rattles past and feel like you are in another era altogether. Once you venture a tad further however, the suburbs are a little flat and boring with boxy buildings. Despite the quaint prettiness of it's main centre, Christchurch in general, is actually a little flat and boring. There is a bit of a buzz about the place in the daytime hours; people playing games of giant chess in the square, kids skateboarding and shoppers shopping, but at 5pm all the shops close, the oversized chess pieces are packed away and the skater kids go home to the flat suburbs. Apart from sparsely populated bars the place becomes a bit of a ghost town once sunset rolls in.
Chess All-stars
Christchurch Cathedral
Inside Cathedral
On our last night out with Cathal and Paul we manage to find an area with a few bars. Apparently, over all there is a greater number of women than men in New Zealand, however Christchurch, at least on the evening in question appears to buck this trend quite successfully and Ellie and I sit back enjoy a midnight feast of eye candy in the shape of possible rugby stars, while Cathal and Paul grumble about the lack of ladies!
The two boys leave for Sydney the following day, we wave them off as they board the airport bus and so it's just the two of us once again. We spend the remainder of the day browsing and eating food from the stalls at a Sunday market in the grounds of the arts centre and the following day enjoy a quick stroll around the Botanic gardens which is full of autumnal colours but is no doubt more spectacular in spring and summer when the flowers are in bloom.
Gardens
On our trip back to Queenstown. Mr. Crowley (of the Crowley's from Cork, don't you know!) the bus driver man is funny and tells us local history and little facts as we pass through towns and spots of interest. E.g. Geraldine, where we stop for a toilet break. He informs us that about 60% of the population in Geraldine are retired folk who move here as it’s a couple of degrees warmer than other south island towns. As Ellie and I step off the bus all wrapped up in our winter woolies we have to laugh at the idea of one horse town Geraldine as the south islands answer to Florida. When he said “couple of degrees warmer” it mustn’t have been a figure of speech!!
An awful lot of the info we learn about the surrounding areas is often wool, sheep or farm related in some shape or form. For example Geraldine is not just a retirement hub for sun-seekers but also home to Giant Jersey, the worlds largest wooly jumper! We are just beginning to see how "small-town" New Zealand really is, and we have yet to discover the rumored toothbrush fence!
The scenery on the way to Queenstown is amazing and we really get the full view of it this time around, like the snow capped peaks of New Zealand's tallest mountains Mt. Cook/Aoraki and Mt.Tasman and glacial lakes like Lake Tekapo that have this stunning blue-gray colour due to the way the glaciers grind against the rocks creating a fine dust (as we learn from the driver!). Hawks and harriers soar and swoop on the plains beside us. Once we spot one snatching up it's prey in the form of a little sparrow . Vineyards, rivers and rolling hills zip by and make my eyes dart back and forth. We make one or two more stops along the way and before we know it we are pulling up to the bus-stop in Queenstown.
fruit break!
So here we are…back in Queenstown, and now the search for jobs, houses, friends and fun begins!
Museum- view from hostel
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
Christchurch is a pretty, British colonial looking city around the main streets and town square where a large Anglican cathedral forms the epicentre of the town. Street names, Gothic buildings, and statues of Queen Victoria give a nod to dear old England. You can stand on the bridge and watch tourists glide down the winding Avon river in little punting boats, while an old style tram rattles past and feel like you are in another era altogether. Once you venture a tad further however, the suburbs are a little flat and boring with boxy buildings. Despite the quaint prettiness of it's main centre, Christchurch in general, is actually a little flat and boring. There is a bit of a buzz about the place in the daytime hours; people playing games of giant chess in the square, kids skateboarding and shoppers shopping, but at 5pm all the shops close, the oversized chess pieces are packed away and the skater kids go home to the flat suburbs. Apart from sparsely populated bars the place becomes a bit of a ghost town once sunset rolls in.
Chess All-stars
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
Christchurch Cathedral
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
Inside Cathedral
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
On our last night out with Cathal and Paul we manage to find an area with a few bars. Apparently, over all there is a greater number of women than men in New Zealand, however Christchurch, at least on the evening in question appears to buck this trend quite successfully and Ellie and I sit back enjoy a midnight feast of eye candy in the shape of possible rugby stars, while Cathal and Paul grumble about the lack of ladies!
The two boys leave for Sydney the following day, we wave them off as they board the airport bus and so it's just the two of us once again. We spend the remainder of the day browsing and eating food from the stalls at a Sunday market in the grounds of the arts centre and the following day enjoy a quick stroll around the Botanic gardens which is full of autumnal colours but is no doubt more spectacular in spring and summer when the flowers are in bloom.
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
Gardens
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
On our trip back to Queenstown. Mr. Crowley (of the Crowley's from Cork, don't you know!) the bus driver man is funny and tells us local history and little facts as we pass through towns and spots of interest. E.g. Geraldine, where we stop for a toilet break. He informs us that about 60% of the population in Geraldine are retired folk who move here as it’s a couple of degrees warmer than other south island towns. As Ellie and I step off the bus all wrapped up in our winter woolies we have to laugh at the idea of one horse town Geraldine as the south islands answer to Florida. When he said “couple of degrees warmer” it mustn’t have been a figure of speech!!
An awful lot of the info we learn about the surrounding areas is often wool, sheep or farm related in some shape or form. For example Geraldine is not just a retirement hub for sun-seekers but also home to Giant Jersey, the worlds largest wooly jumper! We are just beginning to see how "small-town" New Zealand really is, and we have yet to discover the rumored toothbrush fence!
 |
| From Drop Box |
The scenery on the way to Queenstown is amazing and we really get the full view of it this time around, like the snow capped peaks of New Zealand's tallest mountains Mt. Cook/Aoraki and Mt.Tasman and glacial lakes like Lake Tekapo that have this stunning blue-gray colour due to the way the glaciers grind against the rocks creating a fine dust (as we learn from the driver!). Hawks and harriers soar and swoop on the plains beside us. Once we spot one snatching up it's prey in the form of a little sparrow . Vineyards, rivers and rolling hills zip by and make my eyes dart back and forth. We make one or two more stops along the way and before we know it we are pulling up to the bus-stop in Queenstown.
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
fruit break!
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
 |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown,early June |
So here we are…back in Queenstown, and now the search for jobs, houses, friends and fun begins!
August 23, 2010 at 5:22 AM
Those mountains look amazing! Where did ye do the snowboarding?