Valentine's Day in Christchurch, NZ with friends

Saturday, February 14, 2009 – Lyttelton, New Zealand for the city of Christchurch
We did not sleep much as the ship was really pitching all night long. Not the rolling from side to side but the bucking from front to back. I had delivered valentines to my group very late and the various floors had numerous creaks and groans.

Up at 6:30, ate in the room and watched as we pulled into Lyttelton harbor. It was gray and misty and cold! The town crier met up on the pier, ringing his bell.
The early Canterbury Pilgrims landed here. The Timeball Station is castle-like and sits above the town. In the days before GPS and atomic clocks, ships would make sure their chronometers were accurate by checking them when the large ball was lowered. The ball is still raised above the tower five minutes before 1PM and then dropped exactly on the hour.

Cunard offers free shuttle buses to the ports it does sail directly in to so we hopped the bus to the center of Lyttelton town. Bob and Evelyn, our friends for many years, met us there and it was so good to see them again. There were several people meeting family and I heard one woman exclaim over a niece she had never seen in person, only in photos. What a joyous reunion for so many people!

We were then off in their SUV for a day of errands and visiting. First for haircuts with Joss, in her home. Wonderful haircut and a great visit of her beautiful garden! Then to the shopping center for the post office, camera store, lunch and grocery shopping…normal Saturday duties! Then to the their lovely home for internet work and to see all the progress Bob has made on their large garden, with the giant vegetables he grows in multitude and walls he is building to block the wind to create a peaceful haven outside. We took photos and chatted and headed to the ship. They had a tour and we enjoyed high tea in the Queens Room and then they were off! And we were off! The sun finally came out as we pulled out of the port and headed down the southeast coast of New Zealand.

Christchurch sits in the Canterbury plains cradled between a jagged ridge of snowy mountains and the remnants of two small conjoined volcanoes pressing out into the Pacific Ocean. John Robert Godley was sent to New Zealand in 1850 by a British organization to prepare for the arrival of settlers for a planned Church of England community. Four ships arrived that year bearing roughly 800 pioneers and the new town was named for Godley’s college at Oxford. The buildings are built in the Gothic Revival style with dark gray stone carved out of the nearby Port Hills, which gives the city a slightly English feel. It was here that Kate Shepphard, whose portrait is printed on the $10 note, began organizing her campaign that led to New Zealand being the first country in the world to grant women the vote.

The city is compact and easy to explore by foot. The population is 350,000 and is the largest city on the South Island. It is the forward supply depot for the main U.S. Antarctic base at McMurdo Sound and if you come in their summertime, you will see the giant U.S. Air Force transport plans of Operation Deep Freeze at the airport.

Rugby is the main sport of the country and the All-Blacks (national team) are based in Christchurch. There was a bike/hike race from the city to the beach and we saw several racers beside us as we drove through town.

Some sights to explore…
- One of the greatest little train journeys in the world is the Tranz-Alpine Express, which travels through the Southern Alps to the West Coast, weaving through gorgeous scenery from the fields of the Canterbury Plains through rugged gorges and high mountains to the jade green, wild West Coast bush.
- Cathedral Square, with the city’s dominating landmark begun in 1864. You can climb the bell tower also and enjoy evensong sung by its boys’ choir
- Botanic Gardens (think big – trees were started in the 19th century) and the Bridge of Remembrance in memory of the soldiers from WWI
- Canterbury Museum – founded in 1867, there is a large exhibit of moa bones (Jurassic birds which roamed the Canterbury plains and were hunted by the Maori), an early city streetscape and the Hall of Antarctic Discovery
- Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House, Christchurch Gondola for the best vantage point from which to overlook the city, International Antarctic Centre, Punting on the Avon River

Women were presented with roses at dinner and then we had a fabulous violinist play a lively concert of country and popular songs.