Christchurch

I’ve only been here one afternoon, but it’s a lovely town – very British, in many ways, with cute wooden cottages and impressive stone buildings that used to be churches (or look that way), as well as a river called Avon, closely modelled on the Cam (including punting boats for the tourists). I enjoyed ambling around for a bit, then I got some take-away vegetarian sushi and went to the Botanical Garden. These are really gorgeous – huge trees, a rose garden, a waterlily pond (where I had my dinner), a fragrance garden… The last one is something I don’t think I’ve seen before New Zealand – all sorts of fragrant plants, from roses to kitchen herbs, making walking through a real pleasure for the nose.

Now it’s cooled down a bit, so I’m back at the hostel. I’ll try and go to sleep early, as I’ll have to get up at 6am to get the bus to Mt. Cook. I’m very glad that this is the only time during this trip that I have to get up so early!