Many times when people consider visiting Christchurch they ask me where should I go. Well for those considering visiting Christchurch in this time of the year and the upcoming holiday season, I can definitely recommend a nice short walk through the Monavale garden.  The gardens and landscaped lawns roll down gently to the Avon River and feature some beautiful plantings and a Rose garden. I make it a habit to at least visit this place once a year and every year again I am blown away it. (If not because of the beauty that most certainly my hay fever will remind me all these incredible flowers). Lilies, Roses and so much more.

The central rose garden attracts many visitors every year but most definitely there is a lot to be seen outside the rose garden as well. Just look at the lily on the left.

The more you look  the more you see and each year it seems I ‘discover’ yet another beautiful corner or bed of flowers that I had not seen before.

And now with this interest in photography or let me be honest and humble, interest and joy in taking pictures, I can share this with you.

The sheer explosion of color, sight, and smell is overwhelming, especially in the rose garden. Both the overview and detail lead the visitor with an eye for beauty to one discovery after another.

A number of Monavale pictures have been uploaded to my Flickr photostream, so I will limit myself to some of the favorites of the favorites you will find there.

But if you love flowers and beautiful gardens and you are visiting Christchurch, don’t forget to visit Monavale.  And should you get hungry or thirsty, it is all there, great food, good wine, beautiful views and a very nice setting for a lunch or diner with a loved one on a nice summer afternoon or evening.

And don’t forget there’s more at Flickr >>>

Kurz bevor wir Neuseeland “Goodbye” sagen, haben wir erneut die Wanderschuhe geschnürt. In der Nähe von Christchurch fanden wir den Banks Peninsula Track. Dieser Track unterscheidet sich von den staatlichen DOC Tracks darin, dass der Wanderweg komplett durch privates Farmland führt,  max. 12 Wanderer an einem Tag laufen dürfen und die Farmhäuser als Unterkunft dienen.

Das klang gut und so erwartete uns neben wunderschönen Wanderstrecken direkt an der Küste entlang noch viel viel mehr…

• Vier liebenswerte Mitwanderer aus der Schweiz und Neuseeland
• Sturmähnliche Winde
• Sonne satt
• Atemberaubende Ausblicke von den Klippen
• Entspannte Tagesetappen

Eine Nacht unterm Sternenhimmel

Die erste Nacht gab es zusätzlich vor dem Farmhaus noch kleine zeltähnliche Holzhütten (Engl. Stargazer Huts), in die wir ohne Frage hineinschlüpfen mussten, als es draußen Nacht wurde. Das besondere an diesen Hütten ist das Glasdach über dem Kopfbereich. Schön in unsere Schlafsäcke eingemummelt bestaunten wir so den neuseeländischen Sternenhimmel und wachten nachts direkt unter dem Orion auf. Grandios!

Schafe, grüne Weiden und der Pazifik weit und breit

Der Wanderweg führte uns jeden Tag auf und ab über grünes Weidland direkt am Pazifik mit tausenden von grasenden Schafen darauf. Weiße Schafe, schwarze Schafe, lockige Schafe, kleine Schafe, Schafe überall… Und Schafe waren sozusagen auch noch kostenlose Rasenmäher für die Wiesen rund um die Farmhäuser. Und so sagten uns die Schafe jeden Tag „Gute Nacht“ und als erstes „Guten Morgen“. MÄH

Achja und noch schnell die schaftypische Verhaltensweise, sobald wir vor ihnen auftauchten:

1. Dumm gucken
2. Schnell nochmal lullern
3. Die Flucht ergreifen

Heisses Bad unter freiem Himmel

Nach einer Nacht im 160 Jahre alten Siedlerhaus am Flea Bay erwartete uns am zweiten Wandertag die Traumunterkunft für so eine Wanderung. Über einen kleinen Holzsteg kamen wir in einen großen Garten, in dem kleine, alternative und liebevoll errichtete Holzhütten im Kolonialstil standen. Das Lagerfeuer war schon vorbereitet, der kleine Selbstbedienungsladen hielt kühles Bier bereit, die Schaukel im Baum ließ uns wieder Kind werden und beim Outdoor-Billiard besiegte uns eher der krumme Tisch . Das ultimative Highlight war das Open Air Bath, eine Badewanne unter freiem Himmel, in der das Wasser mit einem Holzfeuer darunter erhitzt wird. Und wieder keine Frage wir stürmten sofort los, holten Holz, ließen das Wasser ein, entfachten das Feuer und eine Stunde später saßen zwei Wanderer aus Leipzig in einer heißen Wanne am Stony Bay in Neuseeland.

Pinguine und Seelöwen ganz nah

An den Buchten des Bank Peninsula befinden sich zahlreiche Nester der little blue und yellow-eyed Pinguine. Zum Schutz der Pinguine wurde uns Wanderern eine kostenlose Erkundung vom Farmbesitzer höchstpersönlich angeboten, damit die scheuen Tiere nicht unbeabsichtigt gestört werden. Mit Tarnanzügen ausgerüstet bekamen wir so kleine blauäugigen Pinguine in ihren Nestern zu Gesicht. An einem Aussichtspunkt haben wir mit dem Fernglas ca. 20 Pinguine in der Bucht sichten können und beim weiter-spazieren stand dann auf einmal ein größerer yellow-eyed Pinguin vor uns. Da staunte selbst der Farmbesitzer nicht schlecht!

Beim Baden am Otanerito Beach waren wir dann auch nicht allein, ein riesiger Seelöwe robbte auf einmal ca. 50 Meter von uns entfernt durch den Sand ab ins Wasser. Wir hatten den Seelöwen vorher gar nicht bemerkt, da er eher wie ein riesiger Fels aussah.

Suit sale at Working Style, 668A Colombo Street – where only the smoothest and coolest Bond-types get suited up.

(click to enlarge)

Three members of The Unfaithful Ways – a local band who play alt-country-meets-old-timey-pop tunes. They drew an appreciative audience of all ages in Cathedral Square today. They have an EP out called “First Four Songs” available for download from here, or from Real Groovy. You can also listen to some of their songs on their MySpace site. Even though I don’t consider myself a country kinda person, I could have listened to them for hours! I look forward to the release of their first album.

“Music For Lunch” is a series of free lunch time concerts held in Cathedral Square on Friday’s (weather permitting).

For an ant to have had wings would be his undoing.

“Green Cabs had another 45 minute delay to get a cab in Wellington this morning perhaps they should get more cars on the road.” —not what I would call excellent service, but only one of the flies in the ointment.

Around a flowering tree, one finds many insects!

Yesterday I walked the “The Bridle Path” and this is the view from the top. Below is the Heathcote Valley, with the estuary and Christchurch city beyond. The Bridle Path is the route taken by European settlers from Lyttleton (on the other side of the Port Hills) to the plains of Christchurch. From 1850 to 1867 (when the rail tunnel opened) immigrants carried their essential household items over on this track. Yesterday was a hot day, the path was steep, and I was grateful to be carrying nothing but my camera and a water bottle.

Below is also the view from top of the Bridle Path – the other side – looking down into Banks Peninsula. The port town of Lyttelton is closest, with the Diamond Harbour settlement across the water. In the foreground are the spear-like seed heads of flax plants (Phormium tenax, different from the “flax” plants of the Northern Hemisphere, and distinct to New Zealand), and the yellow flowered gorse bush (Ulex europaeus), brought to New Zealand by Europeans as a garden shrub. The conditions for the gorse bush proved to be more than ideal and the plant proliferated way beyond expectation. It is now a major invasive plant species in New Zealand with millions of dollars spent every year on its “control”.

I took the remainder of The Bridle Path down into the Lyttelton township, had a delicious lunch at Lyttleton Coffee Company, and caught a bus through the tunnel back to my car in Heathcote Valley – relishing the comfort and convenience of modern transportation all the way!

Green Cabs and Wellington Combined are the two preferred suppliers for Telecom in Wellington from December. I’m surprised the chairman didn’t mention that it is now to be shared between the two.

Hi all

Just a quick reminder about the exciting things coming up at Serendipity Sam’s over the next few days…

• Smallprints Fingerprint Jewellery
  Our friend Wendy from Smallprints will be at our Romsey centre on Sunday 29th November between 11am and 1pm, and again at our Christchurch centre on Thursday 3rd December between 11am and 1pm.
  Smallprints offer a great range of fingerprint jewellery, a really different and very special gift idea for a loved one – from a loved one.
  If you would like to find out more about Smallprints, see the website at www.smallp.co.uk
• Members Go Free Day
  From time to time we offer our members a chance to take part in our Members Go Free Days, a chance for us to thank our members for their support. Members can visit either or both of our centres, and they will be admitted free of charge – so long as they present their membership card. The next of our Members Go Free Days is on Monday 30th November, and the fun starts from 9.30am when the doors open! Remember your membership card so that you can also take advantage of our members meal deal!

Please also don’t forget that there is still time to book your Christmas Party at Serendipity Sam’s, we only have a few places left at each centre, so book now to avoid disappointment – call 0845 450 7200.

Thanks to Damian from Christchurch City Council Libraries for sending these photos in.

Cars parked on Cambridge Terrace. 1945.

Looking towards Amuri Motors on the corner of Gloucester and Durham Streets. Sept. 1945

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+++ Apologies for the lack of blogging this month: there are busy times, there are less busy times, and I’ve had the former for the last few weeks +++

Yes, that’s right, my Oxford college’s JCR has finished off the 2009 committee session with a set of light-hearted motions in the final General Meeting of the term, faithfully minuted by me in my function as outgoing JCR Secretary, one of which involved the renaming of the JCR to ‘Gryffindor’ from the Harry Potter books and films, as well as the equivalent renaming of Christchurch College to ‘Slytherin’, Merton to ‘Ravenclaw’ and St Hugh’s to ‘Hufflepuff’.

The Cherwell (Oxford’s independent student newspaper) broke the news first, followed by the Telegraph and now the BBC. It really is going national! I wonder how long it is until (a) it gets brought up in PMQs or (b) someone from Warner Brothers complains that we’re in breach of copyright…

Just to clarify: the motion is only, and can only ever have been, a bit of humour to lighten up the end of a JCR session in which a lot of serious and unwieldy constitutional reforms were pushed through. To actually rename the JCR we would have to rename Magdalen College itself – and the fellows almost certainly wouldn’t allow that, however amusing it would be. The copyright issues would only be the first of a whole host of obstacles that would prevent this gentle whimsy from becoming legal, binding reality.

You can rely on Christchurch accommodation for a comfortable bed when you arrive in this wonderful city. There are gardens and churches galore to explore when you stay in this city on the South Island New Zealand. You could fly into Christchurch Airport then choose from the many types of accommodation in Christchurch that is made available to you. There is accommodation ranging from budget to luxury accommodation to suit all types of pockets from those with families to people with a few extra dollars to spare. Which ever type of Christchurch accommodation you choose you will be made to feel very welcome and at ease.

Apartments Christchurch.

If you are traveling with your family you could try an apartment where you and your family could stay and prepare your own meals, therefore saving money to go to some special places for sight seeing like Lake Wanaka. These home away from home units have everything all at your finger tips and can make your stay very comfortable.

Christchurch Backpackers.

This is another type of alternative Christchurch accommodation you may like to try. Not only are they fun places to stay but you can meet people from all over the world and experience their ideas and culture in the most pleasant of surroundings. Backpackers have many facilities available including parking which is important should you decide car rentals New Zealand will be a cheaper way of getting around while staying in Christchurch.

You and your family could leave Christchurch travel to places like Akaroa, Nelson and Lake Wanaka and enjoy staying in these other wonderful places.

Akaroa Accommodation.

Situated in the heart of an ancient volcano, this great little destination may be just too good to visit for only one day. You could have a look at what accommodation Akaroa has to offer and stay in this unique French settlement and take a scenic tour to see the delightful Hector Dolphins and other wild life this area has to offer.

Wanaka Accommodation.

Lake Wanaka has many types of accommodation, most of which have great scenic views and could be your base to explore the shores of this beautiful lake. The town with the same name as the lake has lots for the family to do like take a picnic on the shores or boating and fishing in Lake Wanaka. From here you could take an overnight tour to the southern city of Queenstown. Queenstown can offer some very unique experiences and your choice of accommodation can make all the difference to your stay in this part of the country. Accommodation Wanaka has something for everyone.

Nelson Accommodation.

Perched on the shores of Tasman Bay, this area is surrounded by some of the country’s best National Parks which depict the natural wonder of this area. This area at the northern tip of the South Island is a delight to explore and is also important in the early history of New Zealand as it was named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who stopped here in 1642.

As your holidays draw to a close you will remember the Christchurch apartments and hotels that helped to make this such a wonderful and unique experience. Whether you return to the same Christchurch airport hotel or select another type of accommodation you will be made to feel comfortable and welcome.

When planning your holiday to this wonderful part of the world make sure you book the Christchurch accommodation that suits you.

Clint Owens interviews NZ Taxi Federation Executives, Tim Reddish Kevin Braid, Blue Star Taxis Manager Bob Wilkinson & Wellington Combined Taxis Director Warren Quirke.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/20091124.