Christchurch is one beautiful city. Very old, very well laid out and incredible scenery. It’s a bit of a shame we’re here for only a day, but plenty of cool stuff to come.
So what have we done today. Well…
Started out at a local cafe which was the self-proclaimed cafe to the stars. “sophie’s” had wall to wall photos of Sophie with high profile people dining at her cafe. Most looked pretty old, like coolio, boys 2 men, Jonah Lomu and many, many others.
Afterwards, we made our way to the gondola which goes up the side of Mt Cavandish. From the top, you have a 360° view of Christchurch and the snow-capped mountains in the background.
Ben and I chose the difficult way down by way of mountain bike. We suited up, chose our route and headed off across the mountain range. Lots of steep bits, both up and down. I fear neither of us will be joining the Tour de France next year. Half way along, we got off the road and hit the emergency access road which was at a huge gradient, thankfully in our favour.
A great 1.25hr ride – definitely recommended.
From there, we made our way back to the city to have a “punt” up the river “Avon”. They couldn’t fit us in for a bit so we went for a “pint” instead. I so should be a writer…
For those of you who aren’t quite sure what punting is, it’s basically the English version of a Venetian gondola ride. We got to wear ye olde hats whilst slowly been punted up & down the river. Quite relaxing just sitting there learning about the river and botanic gardens that borders it.
From there to complete our trifecta of activities, we took a guided tram ride around Christchurch central. Kinda ran out of time with this one unfortunately. We did get a chance to look around the town centre, Cathederal Square. Photos attached.
Next up is a long drive south to Queenstown.
