downtown.

i want to show you some pictures of my town.

christchurch is a pretty major city (for new zealand)...

wait.

some fun new zealand facts before we begin.

1. population of new zealand: 4.3 million 

(population of new york city: 8.3 million)

2. land mass : roughly the size of britain 

( population of britain: 61 million )

3. there are about 40 million sheep in new zealand 

4. population of the south island: 1 million 

so... a little background for when i say christchurch is a major city. it has about 385,000 people. which doesn't sound like a lot, but it really is for this island that is surround on all sides by 2000 km of water. 

cathedral in cathedral square.

      
christchurch is known for being the most english of all new zealand's cities.

i think you can see why.

these were taken just wandering downtown with my camera. 

tons of old stone buildings mixed with some more modern ones.

the avon river also runs through the city.

so there is a lot of green space and parks.

i can't wait for it to get warmer and for flowers to start blooming.

we have some pretty lovely botanic gardens here.

the cathedral.

giant chess game always happening right in the city square.

(the chess blocks were built into the plaza)

my treat for the day.

chocolate bubble tea in the skywalk overlooking downtown.

it was a great day of rambling around, stopping when i wanted to, ducking in shops, drinking yummy tea.

this weekend's agenda is pretty packed...

I'M GOING TO LEARN HOW TO SNOWBOARD!

i have to say. i'm a little nervous. sometimes walking well is an issue for me.

so strapping on a board and putting me on a mountain could be bad news.

but my flatmate is an excellent teacher, so i have been told.

so we're off to mount dobson, about 2 1/2 hours away.

i'll be home late sunday night... 

hopefully with some sick pictures of my triumphs

and no horror stories to tell.

send good karma my way so i keep all my limbs in tact.

love.

c

(oh... i'll leave you with one more picture. my flatmate megan turned 21 yesterday, so we threw her a party. and at some point a stray cat was let loose on the flat. i think cats are the devil incarnate. so i crawled across couches and chairs and slammed my door so it couldn't send it's bad karma into my sleeping space. and then sat back and watched the fun. it was finally collected and allowed to go back outside. to the sadness of some (everyone but me) and the elation of others ( just me).

  

Comments

[Alice Christian]

Oh, no! the cat was black no less. (sorry, Carol!) You don't need any bad luck before you go snowboarding. Have fun. Loved the pictures.