Tuesday, Oct. 19: 2031 earthquakes and counting! Had a huge one today - 5.0 but it was so shallow that it had an intensity of 7.0!!! http://www.suite101.com/content/the-christchurch-earthquakes-continue-a-stocktake-and-update-a298478
Thursday, Oct. 21: Today was my last day of classes in new Zealand! Now I have three finals starting next friday. Ugg, wait, I actually have to study here?
And now for Courtney and my amazing Christchurch adventures. Instead of gallivanting around the country, we decided to stay in Christchurch and explore our home town more. Spring here is absolutely beautiful and we definitely have a greater appreciation for "The Garden City" and its super friendly atmosphere.
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| Greatest smelling flower at Mona Vale |
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| Punting on Avon River |
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| Gondola |
Saturday, Oct. 23: I had an amazing day with Courtney!! :) ... We did the Christchurch Grand Tour! We hopped on the bus at Cathedral square and our first stop was Mona Vale - a historic Christchurch homestead surrounded by beautiful gardens. We mosied around the gardens along the Avon river and stopped to watch the ducks, smell the flowers, and take in the beautiful sights and fragrances around us. We got some amazing pictures of the flowers because I have never seen flowers so vibrant!! And one pink flower was the best smelling flower I have ever encountered. I want to figure out what it is!! Then we went punting down the Avon river through the botanic gardens. It was so comfortable and incredibly relaxing. I love all the baby ducklings that splash around in the clear water. Then we drove up really high to a lookout point where we could see all of Canterbury. Usually you can see the Southern Alps in the background but it was a bit too cloudy. The view was still incredible though!! Then we drove along Evan's Pass to Sumner. The views from Evan's Pass were stunning and Sumner was awesome as usual. Courtney and I ate lunch at Joe' Garage. I had a delicious mushroom dish and chocolate ice cream. We then drove through New Zealand's longest road tunnel carved through the crater wall of the extinct volcanic caldera that forms Lyttelton Harbour. Here we rode the Christchurch Gondola. We were lifted 1500 feet to the top of the Port Hills where we had amazing views across the city, Canterbury Plains, Southern Alps, Banks Peninsula, Lake Ellesmere, the Pacific Ocean, and Kaikoura Peninsula. I got an amazing book in the bookstore called "Smile" by Anders Blomqvist and Gerar Toye. It's full of amazing pictures of people smiling from all over the world and really cool quotes about happiness...
"There are hundreds of language in the world, but a smile speaks them all."
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| Tribute to the Firefighters |
We rode the gondola back down with a friendly Australian couple who talked to us about cool stuff to do in Sydney. On the way back to Cathedral Square, we stopped at an awesome sculpture on the banks of the Avon River called "A Tribute to the Firefighters." It is 5 steel girders from the WTC that was gifted from the NYC to Christchurch to be used as a tribute sculpture to firefighters worldwide. The suspended component or "spear," in its red hot state, fell from the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center Tower Two, piercing the subway below.
Once the tour finished, we decided to use our tram ride ticket the next day and go to the free Band Togther concert in Hagley Park! It was a gift to lift the morale of Canterbury due to the earthquakes. 130,000 people attended! Court and I chilled in the grass, listened to music, and ate our free sausages. Such an amazing day. Wow Christchurch, I love you.
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| Band Together Concert |
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