Going To NZ Part Sixteen (Christchurch explored)

Hmm.

That morning, we woke up and decided to visit the surrounding areas near Christchurch. One place we wanted to visit was Akaroa, which was situated south of Christchurch. The journey by car (as usual) to Akaroa would take take us past Lyttelton, Teddington, Diamond Harbour, Port Levy, Duvanchelle and finally Akaroa, situated on Banks Peninsula.

The road to Akaroa involved driving past or on hills with terrific views of country houses, and we even came across a stretch of mud which was near Akaroa. Stopping by the road, we discovered it was really just a bay which was at low tide. At the edge of this bay, there was this sign which read: 'PLEASE BRING HOME YOUR RUBBISH'. It actually makes sense not to put there something which we see oh so often in Singapore: '$1000 FINE FOR LITTERING'. I believe it is a very good way to put the message of not littering across to the people because it simply makes more sense and allows people to feel that they are responsible citizens of their country not little kids who must be disciplined.

We went through Akaroa which was almost exactly the same as any other New Zealand Town with the exception that it was next to the Akaroa Harbour. We stopped over at a small town to check out their shops which sold small collectibles. I purchased a small wooden bowl. Apparently the area was so rural, the old couple who ran the shop accepted our credit card, but used the old 'apparatus' which involved using something to slide over the card and imprinting ink over a small slip of paper.

Heading back to Christchurch, we rested at the hotel after lunch before deciding to visit an art museum and then moving onto the Christchurch Museum. It was a grand building, and it showcased lots of interesting artefacts which I'd never seen before (as it belonged to eras before this century) and some other items which really cause you to think. I'll not go into details here.

We decided to visit this park next to the museum and we had a great time just enjoying the afternoon under the shade of those huge trees. It was such a tranquil environment, we also saw ducks bathing and swimming in the streams through the park.

That evening, we ate at a bar cum restaurant, and had a taste of beer for a very long time. It was great.

We would be going home tomorrow, and I was feeling pretty happy despite all of the trouble needed to pack up that evening.

Cheers,

Crawldaddy