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Christchurch, New Zealand

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Chirstchurch feels like a combination between Anchorage and Boston: old British charm and lots of parks on a small-city scale, snowy mountains, an ocean, and chilly temperatures. It was quite a shock to go from 110-degree weather to 32-degree weather in the course of just a couple of days, but the cold dry air felt good, even though I had to find a hat and gloves in local stores.

Christchurch was supposedly voted the "world's friendliest city" by Condé Nast. I was quite surprised when immigration authorities saw I was in the country on pleasure and asked, "You're only staying three days? Why not two weeks?" It was a welcome contrast to the smart-assed British immigration agent. As a starting-off point for skiers and snowboarders, the town is oriented towards a younger clientele, and it is quite easily walkable. The only problem with Christchurch is that the airport is run by a private company that charges a NZ$25 departure tax that they don't allow the airlines to include in the ticket price. Why they make travelers all pay this individually before clearing passport control (and not letting the airlines collect it in the cost of the ticket) is beyond me, but it sure makes for a nasty surprise! (hint, hint, anyone from Christchurch City Council reading this!) BTW--I just got a note from a reader saying the fee was raised to $30. Ouch!

I presumed at first that this was "Christ Church" (since every city worth its salt has either a Christ Church or a St. Andrew's), but in fact it is just the church that happens to be located on the public square.
The Christchurch Winter Festival began the morning I left and lasted two weeks. This is a ski jump, still sans snow.
Woolmart: Sam Walton's New Zealand chain of stores.
Christchurch's Avon River is lined by parks. This rotunda was built in the 1920s for public concerts, but it fell into disrepair and was converted to a restaurant. The Avon is the most duck-filled river I ever sat by... at night pairs of ducks sit between the bushes along the banks and watch the river go by.

A US$4 gondola ride takes visitors to the top of a rim of an extinct volcano 1500 ft. above sea level. This is the harbor of Lyttleton, which was formed when the extinct volcano sunk and seawater poured into the crater. As a superbly protected harbor and a center of Maori activity, the area was the original Christchurch settlement. However, arable land was minimal, so a few brave settlers hiked over the rim and gazed upon the Canterbury Plains, now the breadbasket of New Zealand. Much of Lyttleton was put on the back of mules and driven over the rim to "new" Christchurch. Later, train and passenger tunnels were built. Lyttleton still remains as New Zealand's main coal port and a large containership and ferry port. Notice the grayish tint of the water, which is a result of the same glacial silt as is seen in Alaska. The simple action of a tug pushing a containership through the harbor churns up the silt and grays the waters.

The island at the left-center of the top picture was New Zealand's last leper colony and quarantine center.
The Canterbury Plains, Chirstchurch Spit, Pacific Ocean, and Southern Alps (middle to top), as seen from the gondola.
New Zealand is in the midst of a 4-year drought, leaving the mountains looking as parched as mountains in the Middle East.
This small early-Victorian gingerbread house sits at the entrance to Christchurch's Mona Vale gardens, the centerpiece of which is a stately 1904-vintage home. The Avon River flows through the gardens and punters (similar to Venice's gondola punters) frequently operate in the summer as the Kiwis "out-British the British." The Christchurch City Council is quite activist, frequently raising funds for public improvement projects, including the one that purchased the Mona Vale as a public gardens. In fact, the City Council demands that for every 8 acres of developed land, the City set aside one more acre as parkland. The result is that no Christchurcher is ever far from a magnificent park.
Much of suburban Christchurch is built into the side of steep mountains. Residents access their homes by climbing or descending as much as a couple hundred feet by stairs. But the views of the city and the Southern Alps must surely be worth it!
Christchurch's rivers empty into an estuary that discharges here. The piece of land in the background is the Christchurch Spit, a long and narrow piece of land of natural origin that has now been developed with houses. The Spit is wide enough for 4 rows of houses and long enough that driving its length takes 30 minutes. In contrast to the Homer Spit, the Christchurch Spit is more residential and less commercialized.
The Pacific Ocean breaks on rocks in suburban Christchurch.