Christchurch

Our final destination in New Zealand was it first city, Christchurch. We rarely enjoy city life but our stay here was a delight from beginning to end. It started well with a traffic warden giving us directions instead of a ticket for stopping in a no stopping zone.

We found a delightful city centre hotel, The Rydges, with a great view over the river Avon and the botanical gardens.

The hotel was just around the corner from the Cathedral Square, the heart of the city. There was something going on here all the time. This was a lunchtime concert.

We enjoyed window shopping, the restaurants and the tram ride that wound its way through the must see sights.

On our last full day, as our feet cried out for a rest, it started to rain, gently at first and then the rain came down in sheets often raining along rather than down. Luckily we were in our room when it began, from time to time we watched the storm develop as we started to prepare for our flight tomorrow.

A couple of hours later it was still raining and we noticed that the river was filling up.

Later when we ventured out for dinner at an Italian restaurant next door we found the roads had begun to flood too. We had to pick our way carefully through the puddles.

By the next morning all was back to normal and the trams were running to schedule, full of happy tourists once more.

Sadly it was time to say good-bye to Christchurch and New Zealand. We have enjoyed every minute of our trip and only wish we had time to see more of the beautiful scenery and delightful people.