Exploring Christchurch

This will be my last post about Christchurch, and contains all the pictures that didn't fit into any of the previous posts. J and I had a delightful weekend exploring, not being in a hurry, just wandering towards things that seemed interesting. 

We had morning tea in this little courtyard in the sun. The day started out much colder than I was anticipating for April (although I should have known), but it was glorious to soak up the sun.

Nearby, we enjoyed a cozy little bookshop, and I was delighted with this decorative piece made from an old book. I am hesitant to take on craft projects, as I have rather too many things to do already, but doesn't it look fun?

Right next to our hotel we this charming little street, with lots of interesting shops.

Unsurprisingly, J made a beeline for the gelato shop, so I was forced to agree to eating gelato in the sunshine. Oh dear.

I got fruity flavors, as I always do, but after J finished his chocolate and got down to his salted caramel scoop, we both agreed that it was the most delicious food we'd ever tasted. We went back the next day and both got only salted caramel, and it was perfect.

You may have noticed the tram tracks on this street. Yes, there is a tram, and it is fabulous. It's a hop on, hop off tram, and once we'd bought tickets for the day, we could get on and off anywhere we wanted, as many times as we wanted. The stops were fairly close together, so sometimes we just walked, but my injured knee also really appreciated being carried around.

The trams themselves have come from lots of different places, including this one from Invercargill (at the very southern end of the South Island). A conductor told us that some of them had actually been made in the States and sent here.

J really enjoyed relaxing on the tram, watching things go slowly by out the window, listening to the tram drivers share history and interesting facts about what we were seeing.

I met a friend and colleague who had recently moved to Christchurch, and she look me "up the hill" to a lovely little cafe overlooking the city. It was great to catch up, and the view was stunning!

We went to some interesting restaurants, cafes, and bars, including this one, which had the best sign.

J's colleagues had told us we just absolutely had to go to Bessie, which they described as unbeatable if you liked meat. We always take recommendations, so off we went, only to discover that it is a thousand times more fancy than we are. But there we were, so we decided to just go with it.

As it turns out, their speciality is aged beef. Apparently, the aging process mades the beef much more soft and tender, and so you can charge a fortune for it. We decided, again, to just embrace the experience, and shared a t-bone steak that had been aged for 33 days. It was definitely delicious, and I think I could tell that it was smoother than normal steak, although I don't know what I'm talking about. Anyway, we enjoyed it, and will probably allow that to be the extent of our aged beef experience.

After dinner, in the chilly but pleasant evening, we walked to Crash Palace for a drink. It's hard to tell in the picture, but they're serving food and drinks out of an old bus, which is pretty cool.

Also not captured in the pictures is the lovely lighting, which was colorful but soft and soothing. We had a nice time sitting outside.

During our stroll back to our hotel, we noticed this striking white tree, lit up in what looked like a big gallery. The next morning, we returned to investigate, and discovered that it was something like a mall courtyard. We ended up eating breakfast in a charming little cafe near the tree itself.

We were relaxing on the tram, when we noticed these beautiful, old buildings, which the knowledgeable tram driver was informing us used to be part of Canterbury College, and are now The Arts Centre/Te Matatiki Toi Ora. We hopped off and wandered around.

(Also, I love the guy pointing in this picture, who really seems to know what he's talking about. I hope he's expounding on the virtues of the patterns in the roof tiles, which are fabulous.)

It was a beautiful and stately space. I love college campuses, and this still very much feels like one.

They have a gorgeous great hall, with this spectacular stained glass window at one end. You can't really read the words in the picture, but it is celebrating the different ways in which people can make contributions to the greater good, including fighting to keep others safe and making scientific or social advancements. I quite like the concept.

J and I theorized for a while about what molecules or other scientific ideas this might be representing, and then read the plaque and found out that they're whimsical bubbles. Oops. Still cool.

As is true for most of Christchurch, this area was damaged by the earthquake, and is still recovering. 

I found this little street so powerfully interesting that we hopped off the tram at the last second and had a look around. There are many, many fascinating and beautifully made things to be found down lanes like this one, and although I don't feel a need to buy them, they're fun to look at.

It's funny to me that we were able to do so much in such a short weekend, and one in which we didn't even hurry or try to cram too much in. I'll look forward to returning to Christchurch for more exploration and relaxation.