As I start this blog, it's Friday the 13th here on the South Island of New Zealand and the address of our home right now is also 13. We figure the double whammy is a positive sign for continued good luck! We flew from Sydney to Christchurch with no real challenges caused by COVID-19. At the time of departure, we were only asked if we had been traveling in China, Iran or Italy. Things became a little more intense in Christchurch only because we needed to access the NZ healthcare system for routine maintenance stuff. It was our first experience with socialized medicine which meant that we had to use the equivalent of a walk-in clinic versus going to see a general practice physician. In NZ, physician groups don't take "casual" patients. Costs were equivalent to seeing a doctor in the US with a wait time of about an hour so no real complaints. With dentist and doctor visits out of the way, we were ready to start touring our new locale.
Christchurch sits in a region of NZ known as Canterbury. The original colonists were from England and brought many of their traditions, flora and animals to the area in order to recreate their homeland. Canterbury College is a glorious architectural specimen which now serves as an art museum, music recital hall, theatre and is available for functions. I can only imagine how lovely it would be to have a wedding on these magnificent grounds. While we were enjoying a tasty lunch at one of the cafes a person dressed like a Wizard went roaming by. The whole place is so Harry Potter!
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| The bell tower still rings out on the hour |
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| The interior courtyards |
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| The Great Hall for performances |
Unfortunately, many of Christchurch's heritage buildings have been damaged or destroyed from a 6.3 earthquake that occurred here in 2011 and killed 183 people. It is a city determined to rebuild itself but the restoration work is slow going.
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| 115 people died in this cathedral on the day of the earthquake |
This part of NZ is farming country. Sheep or dairy cows graze nearly every inch of pasture that can be found. We have found a few fields planted and find it interesting that they use big irrigation systems to water their pastureland. To the west, we can see the shadows of big mountain ranges which we will visit later on this month. For now, we are heading down the coastline which has large rolling foothills, rocky shores and a few sand beaches.
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| This is the vegetation that covers the foothills. Perfect for grazing sheep. |
Our next stop was Dunedin. Established in 1848 by the Scottish, the town is known as the Edinburgh of New Zealand. Today this small city is home to Otago University which is considered the finest university in NZ. College students account for nearly 30% of the city's population so the vibe of the city is eclectic. It also does a brisk tourism business with cruise ships arriving nearly every day of the year.
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| Our heritage hotel built in 1911 was lovely |
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| Dunedin's train station |
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| Incredible art can be found sprinkled throughout the city |
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Check out the prison!
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| Early morning view of the neighborhoods |
While in town, we opted to take a walking tour of the city. Imagine our surprise when two of the couples joining the tour were from Lawrence, KS and alumni of KU. Since Dan is a 3rd generation K-State Wildcat, of course they had to be some banter about chicken hawks! Come to find out, these two couples were also full time wanderers! We lunched together at a funky Irish Pub and had fun hearing about their adventures and learning from each other. It was our first occasion to find kindred spirits and to have them be from KS was extra special!
It is definitely fall here on the South Island. Night temperatures are dipping into the low 40's with late day high temps in the low 60's. We've purchased some cold weather gear so are prepared for whatever the day brings. Layers are definitely our friends at the moment!
Wishing you each good health.
Stay safe and healthy. Wander on. Love the blog.
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