South Island Pictures: Christchurch

The Christ Church Cathedral in the Town Square. About two weeks after we were here, Green MP and co-leader Rod Donald's funeral service was held here.


The town square also has a life sized chess board. I wish there were some people in the picture to compare to, but trust me, the pieces are much bigger than your typical table-top set.


After exploring the museum and grabbing some hot tea, we took a stroll through some gardens downtown.


It was springtime while we were in the south island, and all of the flowers and trees were budding. Gorgeous gardens!


This is the most expensive part of Christchurch (I think). It is a beautiful private drive than follows the River Avon for a time, and there are big houses with English and Greek style gardens and private boat docks. You can see that the house here has a private island connected by a bridge. How about that as a chipping green?

Our sightseeing tour took us right up to the top of the closest mountain, so the view behind us is Christchurch and - beyond that - the sea. As an interesting point, this outlook is maintained and orginally erected by a local Rotary club.

This is the infamous Hagglund truck thing that we rode in at the Antarctic Centre. Mom and I were in that back cabin (the one on the left), and there was a camera connection so that the driver in the front part could check on us to make sure we were all still OK and hadn't fallen out or anything.


Me and the penguins! This is one of my favourite pictures from the trip. The Antarctic Centre Museum had cold-weather clothes you could dress up in and had some little scenes for taking pictures. I hate to burst your bubble, but those aren't real penguins, and that isn't real snow.