March 16--Jam-Packed Day in Christchurch

The poets are right: love is eternal.  --E. M. Forster

    It was a huge day in Christchurch. We started with a bus tour of the city, which included stops at the Art Center, a very large complex of old buildings that used to be the University, but have been converted into for-rent artist studios. There were popsicles hanging from the trees and a wire house sculpture hanging from?? 

    Next we toured the Mona Vale Garden Park, a former estate that has been preserved as a public garden. This is my favorite photo from there:

"... while the dew is still on the roses..."

    Our next stop was the Willowbank Wildlife Preserve. We saw two kiwis in a nocturnal (dark) environment where we could not take photos. (That didn't matter, they were quite hard to see.) We also saw the lizard Tuatara and the pig Kunekune, which is too fatty for food and are kept as pets. (I'll stick with my doggie!)

    We had beers and lunch at The Church Brew Pub, literally an old church that has been turned into a hopping pub with live music daily. The organ pipes are still there. They were prepping for St. Pat's Day. 

    This fairly "new" city rebuilt after the 2011 earthquake has a large number of spectacular murals. Here are a couple:

    Closing out the afternoon, we had the opportunity to learn more Maori culture and to paddle a waka (war canoe) on the river. We were told not to bring cameras, and our guide didn't get any close-up of my bunch, but this gives you the idea:

    We did a bit of shopping and exploring and finished off with a Mediterranean meal of hummus, baba ganoush, and fattoush. 
    Tomorrow we head to Queenstown, our last stop of the tour. 

        Leta