Christchurch

As you can see, Wayne was able to get a sim card in Christchurch. He took a taxi to a shopping mall where the closest Telecom store was that had the card.  So, the $49 card ended up costing $89 with the two taxi rides!

On arrival in Christchurch, we went to the International Antarctic Centre where these penguins are housed.  All of them have been injured in some way and will live here forever.

The downtown area of Christchurch is small. We were able to walk from our hotel to the Avon River. There are two phone booths on a bridge. As you can see, we had to step in one for a photo.

The botanical gardens were a short walk from the river.  There were some gorgeous flowers there whose names I knew and many whose names I didn't know. The 'friends' enjoyed the flora also.

When we exited the gardens, we were in front of the Bridge of Remembrance.

After 9/11, the city of Christchurch sent firemen to aid New York. 
In 2002, New York firemen visited Christchurch, bringing some steel from the Trade Center site to honor all firefighters world wide. A local artist fashioned the steel into this monument.

This was taken on a bus tour of the outer area of Christchurch, at the Pacific Ocean in an area called Monks Bay.








Thursday night we stayed with a host couple.  We were nervous about this visit, but it turned out to be very enjoyable.

We are posting this from Queenstown. Our hotal is on Lake Wakatipu, with mountains all around us.  Every direction you look is like a postcard! We'll post again when we can.