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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Our trip to Akaroa...

We decided to stay another night in Christchurch so we could travel to Akaroa which is about an hour's drive from Christchurch. This picturesque town is on the Banks Peninsula. The French were the first European settlers in this area and the gallic influence is still obvious.

On the way to Akaroa, we had a stop at Little River and had a delicious early lunch and some coffee in the complex which has been made in the old railway station. Out the back were some old railway carriages...





Now while we were at Little River it started to rain, but very lightly. However by the time we got to Akaroa...it was pouring!




My SIL and BIL had their rain ponchos but DH's and mine were back in our motel room!

So I bought an umbrella and I kid you not! When I walked out the shop, the rain stopped!!! lol
So I was able to take photos of this beautiful place...


DH bought me something beautiful here for my birthday...photos later

A B & B....



Tide's out!

The beach is made of pebbles not sand...

No cruise for us...








When my friend's cruise ship came here to visit, there were markets in this church's grounds

No streets...the French word Rue instead

The quaint Catholic church...
It was a beautiful day and the way the weather had fined up was absolutely amazing! 

The Port Hills and Lyttelton...

After our walk around Christchurch, we headed off to the Port Hills and Lyttelton Harbour which is still classed as part of Christchurch. The roads are quite twisty as they wind their way over hills. There are no barriers on the sides of these roads  and in places you are a long way up! gulp!! But the scenery is wonderful!
Before the road started climbing we drove along the waterfront and noticed the houses clinging on to the cliffs...the house in the photo below had its own funicular! The garage is at road level in the foreground...

Just past those houses we noticed all the shipping containers lining the road...to prevent rock falls on to the road. The lined road went for about a kilometre.

 This section the containers are only single layer...


The road then climbed but eventually we came to a road closure. Luckily there was a lay by lookout, so we pulled up there. There was an older man (older than us!! lol) enjoying the view when we got there. We exchanged greeting and then he got into his beautifully restored car...


Mary and I enjoying the view of the estuary..


Because the road was closed we had to find another way to Lyttelton, so as we drove down the range, we saw this view of Christchurch...

On another stop we had this view...


Being from the subtropics, I don't see these very often...


Those pinecones were on a tree in this stand...magnificent aren't they?




DH taking some video footage...
 
Here we are in Lyttelton Harbour...






Looking toward the harbour facilities...



Lyttelton also suffered in the earthquake but we just took this one photo...
 We had a good wander around this locality and had a lovely lunch in one of the cafes. It was only 2pm so it was decided to then try and find the Christchurch Arts Centre...but that's another story...

Christchurch Part 2...

DH and I think we finally found the souvenir shop where we had bought  gifts for our families during our honeymoon...it was in a block of shop buildings...now it stands on its own...and there isn't a postcard or pau shell in sight!




We had loved the Anglican Cathedral... during the earthquake its tower fell down and lots more structural damage was done...



Here's a closer photo of the angel sculpture beside the cathedral...it has been tied to the cross to make it stable


 Here's another city street...note the vacant lot on the left where there had been another building...


This had been a vibrant shopping arcade...

 How sad...this is the Christchurch Central library...



Then we walked down to the Avon River which flows through the city...it's small just like a creek! lol


The approach to this bridge over the Avon has a number of cracks but obviously the actual bridge is deemed to be safe.


Here we have crossed over the river and walking along the bank...

 Mary and I are on a ramp that was constructed in the late 1800s...the purpose of the ramp was to lead horses down to the river to drink...note the weeping willows...they were planted in the 1800s too...



I got DH to take this photo as the empty closed off streets were very eerie, like a movie about the end of the world. This used to be your usual busy city street.