Julie's Magical Mystery Tour: Christchurch & Diamond Harbour, South Island
It was a very joyous and emotional "first meeting" with my friend Lizi, whom I had been emailing for a few years, never having met in person. I'd be staying with her for part of the time at her place in Diamond Harbour, about a 30 minute drive (or ferry & bus) from the city of Christchurch.
Lizi had informed me before I arrived that in order to adjust quickly to the new timezone, she was not going to let me sleep when I got there. We'd go out and then to the pub at night. I remember thinking, "oh now, this will be interesting...," but as it turned out, it was the perfect plan.
We went into the city and she showed me around a bit. We walked past the old Arts Centre and the Court Theatre -- fantastic to see it in person. I knew I'd have plenty of time to wander around the city on my own, so for now, I just took it all in, wide-eyed. We also visited the new Christchurch Art Gallery (Te Puna O Waiwhetu) on Worcester Boulevard, near Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens. It's a wonderful gallery, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Christchurch.
After a quick stop at Lyttleton, a very quaint and artsy village-type suburb of Christchurch, we drove to Diamond Harbour on what I would call "the scenic route," though most of New Zealand is a scenic route. It was about a 30 minute ride around and through the Port Hills which hug the Lyttleton Harbour coastline. I was thinking it would be great on a motorcycle, but it was equally thrilling zooming along in Lizi's sports car.
Diamond Harbour is a beautiful little place, with trails along the steep cliffs and fantastic views of Lyttleton Harbour. And wonderfully friendly people, which greatly impressed me, after living in the decidedly unfriendly city of Boston.
That weekend, I had the unique experience of watching lambs being tailed. Well, not so unique here, but unique for me! Lizi and I went to this nearby farm where a friend of hers worked, and he and his mates were already in the pens, surrounded by bleating sheep. They had already "tailed" them (they cut the tails off the lambs so they don't get ratty and diseased with insects and such), and I probably should be thankful we arrived late as we did. When we arrived, they were "drafting" the lambs back into the pen where the mothers were, and they left them for a while, as the mothers 'sniffed out' their offspring. Personally, I can't tell one lamb from another, but they didn't seem to have too much trouble.
I spent about a week in Diamond Harbour/Christchurch, meeting many wonderful people, relaxing and partying, soaking in lots of Kiwi culture, and completely falling in love with the city of Christchurch. It's a beautiful city, modern and sophisticated with great architecture and the Avon River winding through it, lovely botanical gardens in Hagley Park, and a vibrant arts scene. But at the same time, it has a friendly, small town feel, a 'down-to-earth' quality, probably due to the strongly agricultural Canterbury region that surrounds it. Quite perfect, really. I had a great time just wandering around, visiting the Arts Centre and Court Theatre, Canterbury Museum, Hagley Park, Cathedral Square, the "Our Town" Museum (which focuses on past, present and future history of Christchurch -- very interesting), and did some serious shopping at two fantastic used record stores, Echo and Galaxy.