From Christchurch, Claire and Canterbury to Sun, Surf & Sand

What a whirlwind week it has been!  As I mentioned last post, my friend Claire from Northfield came to visit me for a few days on her way to Australia and we were busy seeing the sights of Dunedin and Christchurch.

We began our week in the Botanic Gardens exploring some of the further reaches I hadn't yet seen.  The extent of the garden is pretty impressive, there are numerous individual gardens dedicated to particular species of plants and specific regions around the world.  We visited the aviary, a garden of South African plants, a valley of ferns and some truly magnificent trees.  Claire was especially impressed by the gardens, having taken plant morphology at St. Olaf she was well equipped to appreciate the genetic relationships and kept telling me about similar plants in the U.S..

The next day we took a bus to the foot of Mt. Cargill (named after one of the founders of Dunedin) and climbed it for panoramic views of the city.  It was a little overcast but it was still beautiful and allowed us to get an excellent sense of our place in the city and surrounding harbors.  My favorite part of this hike was that it took us past the Organ Pipes-an outcrop of columnar basalts formed when the peninsula was still volcanically active.

The next day we visited the Cadbury factory with Jeff, a friend from Macalester (who also accompanied us to Mt. Cargill).  This was a truly unique experience as it is the only Cadbury factory in the whole world that gives tours.  During the tour we picked up lots of chocolate but unfortunately no pictures.  Photography is not allowed in the factory (think Willy Wonka's secrecy) so we had to satisfy ourselves with photos in front of the Cadbury delivery trucks.  Afterwards, we hit up the factory shop where we made a number of delicious purchases including a bar of dark chocolate with coffee, Irish cream, orange and hazelnut fillings in each square.  Heaven!

  

Next up on the schedule was a trip to Christchurch where we stayed for three nights and two days.  The first day we spent our time checking out the city itself.  Our first stop was Cathedral Square, home of the famous Christchurch Cathedral.  The front of the cathedral itself was undergoing repairs so I'll substitute this internet photo for one of my own.  We also encountered a small flea market here but it was nothing compared to the arts fair we saw next on the grounds of the old university.  Christchurch is home to Canterbury University where chemist Ernest Rutherford used his gold foil experiment to demonstrate the existence of an atomic nucleus.  His old laboratories now are now the workshops of fine craftsmen, including a group of spinners and knitters who make beautiful hats, sweaters and scarves out of wool from New Zealand's many sheep.  

Right next to the old University are the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

Next, we rented kayaks and went boating on the Avon river.  This was an interesting experience because our visit coincided with the kayaking leg of the Speights Coast to Coast, a triathalon of running, biking and paddling from the East to West coast of New Zealand.

As if all that wasn't enough, we also visited the Christchurch Museum of Art.

 

 On our second day in Christchurch we rode the gondola hoping to catch views of the harbor and out towards the Southern Alps.  Unfortunatley, it was rather cloudy, but the time we spent waiting for it to clear wasn't wasted.  Many a hand of gin was played!

For Claire's last day we decided to get a group together and go to Tunnel Beach.  Claire, Peggy (another Mac student), Louis, Jeff and myself all piled onto the bus and spent a beautiful afternoon on a beach accessible only by a tunnel through the rock.  The tunnel was constructed by Mr. Cargill (the founding father) so that his daughter could have a private beach to herself, away from the riff raff of Dunedin.  Supposedly she drowned on her first visit.  Fortunately, We avoided all mishaps (the water was too damn cold) and simply enjoyed the scenery. 

Well, my last bit of news is that next time I write I will be including pictures of my NEW flat!  That's right, I'm moving one street over tomorrow for a bigger room, a quieter street and a much much nicer kitchen.  Can't wait!

Miss you all,

Allison