Onwards to Christchurch - Night 112

Overnight the clouds had rolled in, making today ideal for riding a bus. Leaving Tekapo around 9am, we made Christchurch by 1pm and after a brief city tour I was all checked into the Stonehurst Accommodation by 2. Two of my roommates at Stonehurst are from the Yukon, that small, triangular shaped Canadian province bordering Alaska. Now’s that the middle of nowhere.

I spent the afternoon wandering around

Some Church

this city of 300,000. Much of the downtown consists of wonderfully restored 2 and 3-story Victorian buildings, every so often interrupted by a much taller modern, steel and glass structure. Parks and public squares abound, including Hagley Park, the fourth largest urban park in the world.
In the evening I met Kathi, one of my fellow volunteers from Wellington for a few drinks at the Iconic, an empty, over-priced bar near my hostel. She is heading on to Dunedin tomorrow and eventually down to the Kepler Track, so luckily I was able to trade her some of my backcountry cooking gear for a drink at the bar. A pretty slow day as I was exhausted from the three days of hiking at Mt. Cook.

Chess in Cathedral Square

What I Learned Today: New Zealand must have some flexible zoning laws. All throughout this land I’ve seen some strange business combinations; a souvenir shop and bakery (Invercargill) and a tobaccoist/knife retailer/barber (Dunedin), but Smoko’s Lunches and Used Cars here in Christchurch takes the cake. Has anyone ever said, “Honey, let’s go get some pastrami sandwiches and maybe pick up a 04’ Subaru while we are at it”? Do you really want the guy from behind the deli counter selling you a car, or vice versa?

written by

exumenius on January 30, 2008 from Christchurch, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos

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