Day 1 in New Zealand- Christchurch

May 04, 2010

Day 1 in New Zealand- Christchurch

After a week in Australia in February, we felt we had time to unthaw from the Chicago winter. After visiting my niece and her husband for the weekend, we got up super early to begin the next phase of the adventure- heading over to New Zealand. First we had to take a few buses back to the airport in Brisbane. Then, we boarded our flight to Christchurch, New Zealand on the south island. We checked in at the IBIS hotel, a barebones room but clean and welcoming after rising so early that day- but I forced myself back out to visit the town since we were due to leave early the next morning for the next leg of travel: going around the south island.

Karen and I walked around the quaint town. In the Cathedral Square, we saw the Christchurch's iconic cone-shaped art piece (me next to it above)... I had to look up what it was called; this quote is from Wikipedia: "Since the year 2000, The Chalice, a large piece of modern sculpture in the form of an inverted cone, has stood in the square subverting the shape of the spire that rises above the cathedral. The Chalice, designed by prominent New Zealand artist Neil Dawson, is made up of forty-two leaf patterns featuring different native plants."

We also visited a museum that told of the first settlers from England. We stopped in a huge, old church building converted into shops for many artisans. We walked along the Avon river and enjoyed the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

While looking at some local restaurants, we found a seafood place that was serving Whitebait- a specialty fish with a short season, so of coursse we had to try it. The fish were described to us as minnow-sized and many of them went into making a patty, which was dipped in egg batter and then lightly fried, so the egg was still liquidy inside the patty. It was good, though rather salty- maybe it was one of those things when you grow up eating it, you love it (I have many of those things back home). One thing we both noted was that we thought the waiter said that it was served as a paté... their accent was a bit hard to decipher sometimes! :). We also tried Iki Mata, another regional fish. This preparation was unique and a bit baffling, although tasty. The fish was prepared in a kind of salad (like chicken salad) with pieces cut up in mayonnaise and then topped with coconut sorbet! Another neat thing we noticed was the restaurant had some neat tables with what seemed like gas lit fireplaces in them for the people that sat outdoors to keep warm. Our tropical weather was left behind in Aussie-land! We paid our bill at the bar- we had found out from Colleen and Alex that they don't bring checks to the table in Australia- and the same seemed to hold true in New Zealand. Already New Zealand was welcoming us with fine food, pretty scenery and nice local people.

Here are some pictures from this day; As always more pictures at my photo website. Click on the dropdown to find this "Event" since I've posted other pictures since these were taken! :) Click here for the next post in this journey :)