Sightseeing in Christchurch

For Monday, we decided to properly explore Christchurch, and Jen and Victor (Roheryn and NZStrider) agreed to be our guides. We met them by the Chalice in the center of town. Victor's mother came along, and so did their young son, Timmy, who is a truly adorable baby. He got a lot of attention from Rebecca and me! After meeting up at the Chalice, we then went inside the cathedral. Here are pictures of each of those!





We rode the tram around, where I learned that the Chalice is meant to represent a swirl of leaves in the wind, as well as some other Christchurch history and trivia.

Next up was lunch, and then Victor volunteered to take us on a drive up to Lyttleton. Because the car was to small for everyone, Jen, Timmy, and Victor's mom stayed in the city while we went on our drive. The drive was really nice - even more so because Victor is truly a fount of knowledge about the area. He told us all kinds of trivia and history about the area and made it truly interesting. We eventually ended up at Cave Rock, down on the beach. Since the tide was low, we could walk right through it! Here are some pictures from the drive:





We went back into town and met Jen, Timmy, and Victor's mom at the Botanic Gardens. Here's a picture from just before we parted ways.



Rebecca and I headed out through the gardens and stopped at the museum, which was very well done and very interesting. There are lot of exhibits on Antarctic exploration in New Zealand, and this museum was no exception. They also had a really nice exhibit about the history of the Maori.

After wandering around for some time trying to find dinner, we eventually got fed and then returned to the campsite for our last night in the camper.