With a name like Christ Church, it is perhaps fitting that we were there in the lead-up to Christmas. We visited a live nativity play which was lovely – a lady as Mary, a man as Joseph, a real baby Jesus, and lots of (real live) sheep, a donkey, and a llama. It was precious! We found Christchurch to be serene and quiet, and we spent relaxing days watching the boating on the river, and cooing over the ducks with ducklings in tow.
There was a great deal of vibrancy and life in the main square in Christchurch, with a giant chess set, and street performers. My boyfriend was picked out of the crowd to be one of four assistants to a street performer. I felt for him at first, as I wouldn’t like to do that! However my sympathy soon disappeared when he and the three other “strong men” were given a flaming torch to hold and told to run a victory lap around the square while the crowd cheered! Hilarious! (for me…!)
We also watched The Wizard – an old gentleman with a long white beard who stands on a stepladder in Christchurch lecturing to the masses. I admire his eccentricity, and I wanted to like him, but on the day we were there I found him to be quite misogynistic unfortunately.
One day we drove out to New Brighton, on the outskirts of Christchurch, which was very pleasant, although typically it was raining – I’m sure we brought the British weather with us! We watched the surfers and had lunch before giving in to the weather and heading back to the hotel.
Next blog: Sydney, Australia
Big Fat Tourist 