New Zealand (Part VI): Arthur's Pass to Christchurch

We left Greymouth on Sunday morning, with Christchurch our destination for the day, via Arthur's Pass. It was another beautiful summer morning on the West Coast, though we expected cooler weather upon our arrival in Christchurch. We made a brief comfort stop in Moana, where I snapped this shot of Lake Brunner.

Our next stop was near the summit of the pass, where we took 30-minute hike along the Dobson Nature Walk.



Next we headed to Flock Hill, where we had a tour of the Flock Hill Sheep Station, a 36,000-acre high-country sheep farm, and we were shown a shearing room, along with an impressive exhibition of dogs working with a herd of sheep.



After lunch at the Flock Hill Lodge, we were on the road again, with our next comfort stop in Springfield, where I again eschewed a dish of possum.



Upon our arrival in Christchurch, Rosie took us on a 90-minute walking tour/orientation, starting at Christ's College, which she noted, and we observed, bore some resemblance to Hogwarts.

We walked through the Arts Centre and along the River Avon,

and then through Cathedral Square toward our hotel.



We learned that the World Buskers Festival was underway in the squares, parks, and quadrangles of Christchurch during our visit.

I found Christchurch to be a very easy city to navigate and explore. Other than a few out-of-town excursions over the next two days (reviewed in a subsequent posting), we had quite a bit of time here for independent exploration. As I tend to do in situations like this, I located a couple of brew pubs and an Irish pub. Sunday evening, I went to Dux de Lux, in the Arts Centre area, for a light supper and some tasting -- the food was unremarkable (as Rosie had told us), and the beer was good and fresh. On Monday, upon our return from Akaroa, I found a great brewpub, fairly close to hotel, called the Twisted Hop. It was on a side street, in the opposite direction from the more touristy areas, and it very much felt like a "locals" establishment. I enjoyed a tasting rack of six samples, along with fried calamari and a salad, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the quality and service. The beers that I would return for were the Challenger, the Golding Bitter, and the Twisted Ankle.

Tuesday was our last full day of the tour. The group walked through Cathedral Square to the Blue Pearl Gallery, where we saw a brief program on how these unique abalone pearls are farmed. The group then boarded our bus for a trip to Lyttelton, were we were led on a tour by Margaret Copland, an actress in period costume and character, who described the history of this port town.

Our afternoon in Christchurch was free. I enjoyed a perfect lunch of Guinness and a pot of steamed mussels (and Van Morrison on the stereo) at The Bog, an Irish pub 3 blocks from our hotel, and I learned that there would be live music there that evening. After lunch, I spent some time exploring the Botanic Gardens,





and I then did a little bit of shopping, before getting back to the hotel in time for our visit to the International Antarctic Centre.

Upon our return from the IAC, I was successful in encouraging Joe and Mark to join me at the Bog for a couple of pints and some traditional Irish music with the Jameson Jam Session, along with some toasts to our excellent New Zealand adventure!