Christchurch

After a lovely short flight we landed in Christchurch early afternoon. A short taxi trip saw us settled into our very central accommodation for 3 nights, the new Novotel, right in the centre of town next to the Cathedral. A really great spot. We spent the afternoon getting our bearings and then headed next door to the Irish pub for dinner, with our favourite beverages, Guiness and Magners Pear Cider! Yum! The weather was overcast and cool, about 17 degrees.

Day 2 in Christchurch was a little clearer initially, so after a nice sleep in we decided to do the scenic tram trip and headed out to the Gondola by bus. It was a great view, although could have been a little clearer, but quite cool, about 13 degrees! Haven't felt temps like that for a while. John survived the gondola trip, he didn't really enjoy the return trip down the mountain but!

After arriving back in town we continued the tram journey and found the arts district, with it's lovely craft markets..... yes I visited the markets (didn't buy anything, but enjoyed the experience) and then wandered around the Botanic Gardens. We watched people punting on the Avon river and heard a pipe band in the Gardens and loved looking at the Dahlia's and trying to take photos of flowers and bees.

This really is a lovely city, very easy to wander around with some lovely historical buildings and gorgeous parks. It is very English, and has some lovely open areas. The sun finally gave up trying to come out and the clouds won over, and the temperature stayed cool but it hasn't rained. The hills around Christchurch are very dry, a bit reminiscent of home.

We have an early start tomorrow for the Trans Alpine Train trip, hope it fines up a bit.