Christchurch

Apologies for the lack of updates recently, NZ has kept me rather busy, and cheap Internet cafes have been somewhat scarcer than in Oz.

So… I’ve actually been in NZ for over a week now — I can’t believe how the time has flown by! I landed in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. It’s a very pleasant place, with quite an English feel to it with the Anglican Cathedral and other neo-Gothic public buildings dominating the centre of the town. It even has an Oxbridge-style College, although the Univeristy moved out years ago and it is currently an Arts Centre!

The Arts Centre was actually a really interesting place with some cool modern sculptures, an excellent cafe, and a small museum dedicated to Ernest (later, Lord) Rutherford the Cavendish physicist who took his first degree at Canterbury College at the end of the 19th Century.

The Cathedral is very nice, but the views from the top of its bell tower weren’t particularly inspiring. Afterwards we rode the gondala up to the top of the nearby volcanic peak which was much better.