Christchurch

Paua House

Christchurch Museum

Our last full day in New Zealand. Did some blogging and some laundry in the morning, then headed into town. Went to the Christchurch Museum which is an interesting regional museum. Exhibits included a reconstruction of a Christchurch street in the late nineteenth century, the Paua House, a famous example of kiwiana, consisting of a living room decorated entirely in paua shells, moved from a real house in Bluff and temporary exhibition by WOW, World of Wearable Art, which was a collection of outrageous costumes. We also enjoyed galleries of natural history, geology, Antarctic exploration and Maori history.

Botanic Gardens

After a quick snack in the Museum Café, we went for a stroll in the Botanic Gardens which are next door to the Museum. It was a lovely sunny afternoon as we walked along the banks of the River Avon which winds through the gardens. Nice peaceful gardens, though a bit short on labelling of the plants and trees.

Our final bit of sight-seeing for the day was to walk back into the very centre of the city, to view again the earthquake damage and the container mall. Then we headed home for a pleasant evening with Gordon and packing.

Container Mall in centre of Christchurch

Arts Centre with turret removed after earthquake damage