Base - the backpacker's place I staid at, located right in the City at Cathedral Square
My room in the Girl's Sanctuary
The Chalice sculpture by Neil Dawson, located in Cathedral Square. It celebrates the new millennium and the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Christchurch and Canterbury by the Canterbury Association. The official lighting ceremony for Chalice was held 7 September 2001. Chalice stands 18 metres high and is 1.2 metres in diameter at the ground and 8.5 metres in diameter at the top. The conical shape mirrors the spire of Christchurch Cathedral. I really liked the sculpture but it was hard to get a good picture of it since parts of the cathedral was under renovation so that didn't make a good background and there was an Arts festival going on which resulted in a lot of other "junk" being placed in the square ruining my picture :P
..and this is what it looks like by night.
The Chalice in the foreground and the Cathedral
The Cathedral again
The Citizens' War Memorial (unveiled in 1937) located next to the Cathedral.
Inside the Cathedral
The Cathedral again (photo taken just outside the hostel)
Ok, last one :P
Bridge of Remembrance acknowledging Canterbury's contribution to World War I. A competition was held for the design of the bridge. A Wellington architectural firm Prouse and Gummer was selected as the winner from twenty four entries. The monument was unveiled 11 November, 1924.
Christchurch is a mix between old and modern architecture - here the Art Gallery.
The Art Gallery again
One of the restored heritage trams touring the inner-city.
The Art Center
...more pictures of the Arts Center...
...and another one....
...and another one...
...and the last one.
The Fool by Sam Mahon (2005)
The Peacock Fountain in the Botanical Gardens erected to honour John Peacock, a distinguished Christchurch pioneer, businessman and politician The fountain was installed and operational by June 1911. In 1949 the fountain was dismantled and put into storage because of recurring maintenance problems. The Peacock Fountain was returned to the Botanic Gardens in 1996 with an improved pipe system and a new colour scheme.
Punting on the Avon River - one of the tourist attractions in Christchurch
Nice flowers in the Botanic Gardens.
There were dozens of BIG ducks, don't know if it's true but they seemed larger than back home. Well fed maybe?!
I haven't seen this type of duck back home
..or these.
More flowers...
Crocus?
Another view of the Botanical Gardens and the Avon River.
...another view
Looks like snowdrops but much larger than the ones you see back home.
A somewhat modified pedestrian sign outside the college :P
Antigua Boat Sheds
Christchurch 2 hours Wildlife Cruises in Lyttelton Harbour
Departing Lyttelton - Lyttelton is the crater of a former massive vulcano. Before it erupted it stood high and snow capped all year. One side of the crater has been eroded by the power of the ocean and has collapsed allowing the sea to flow in. Today Lyttelton is New Zealand's third largest commercial port.
The stone castle to the right is one of only five operating timeball stations in the world. The station was built in 1876 with the purpose of letting the ships in the harbour know the exact time. The ball dropped at 1pm daily.
Battery Point - the threat of Russian invasion in 1885 led to these defenses being built.
Just a nice view
Hector's Dolphin - a native species only existent in New Zealand and also one of the smallest dolphins in the world. They grow to about 1.2 m compared to the bottlenose dolphins, which grow up to 3 meters in length.
We had three of them playing around our boat. We also spotted Little Blue Penguins but I didn't catch them with my camera. They are one of the smallest and rarest penguins in the world and they looked like small ducks swimming in the water.
Just another beautiful view, NZ has plenty of those.
Volcanic outcrop
A ride with the Gondola, another popular tourist attraction
A 360 degrees view over Christchurch and it's surroundings. Extremely windy though the day I was up there, thought I was going to blow away.
Lyttelton from above
Christchurch (upper left side)
Day 2 and time for my Alpine Safari. After a scenic tour over the Cantenbury Plains the next adventure was a jet boat ride along Waimakariri River.
It was really windy so we had to dress warm. Pretty, huh?! Lol
Not a bad view at all...
...neither was this.
Our driver/pilot or whatever he was called. Matt was his name if I remember correctly.
Second part of the trip - a scenic 4 wheel 2 hours drive over Mt Torlesse Station, a 10 000 acre working sheep and cattle farm situated in the spectacular foot hills of the Southern Alps.
Notice the sheep? They were all over the place :P
Kind of cute but very scared of our car. (The picture is taken through the window of the car therefore the poor quality)
The scenery kept changing, here some classical NZ birch forest
Beautiful with the sun streaming in...
Apparently some scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring was filmed here (if I remember correctly). Can't remember what it was called though. Do you recognize it?
Every view is just like it was taken from a fairytale, hard to believe that it's real.
Flock Hill, an area with limestone rocks and also the battle setting for the film 'The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe'.
Lake Pearson
We jumped on the train in Arthur's Pass travelling with the famous TransAlpine back to Christchurch
An open air viewing carriage allows you to get even closer to the stunning scenery and provides many opportunities to photograph your favourite spots. Really nice but freezing I tell you that!
Waimakariri River again (were we went jet boating)
