This morning was very foggy, and I almost despaired of seeing New Zealand at all. We were delayed in sending off the helicopter to fetch the customs agents from Lyttelton because of the fog, so I watched the New Zealand Antarctic Program presentation, which was mostly just three short videos shot for the purposes of letting prospective NZAP personnel know what they were getting into. I picked up a printed version of the NZAP science program, to complement the ASCII version I found on the Internet.
My first glimpses of New Zealand (around 11:30am) were through haze and fog. I could see just enough to realize that it was probably gorgeous, and that I wasn't seeing any of it. It was extremely frustrating.
When they called us down to the Ambassador Lounge to go through the New Zealand customs procedures, I had to wait in line for about 20 minutes. Through the windows, I could see that we'd left the fog, and were entering Lyttelton. It was all I could do to keep myself from leaving the line and going up on deck to see the sights.
By a million to one probability, (much less, I know, but it did seem amazing), the one customs agent I was processed by (out of four) happened to notice that my birthday was today. He shook my hand, and then told me that his birthday was today also! That was pretty amazing...
As soon as I was through, I ran up on deck to see what it looked like. It was incredible! Trees! Grass! Bushes! Everything was dark green and orangish yellow, with the blue-green harbor water and the blue sky. There were plenty of smaller boats out in the harbor escorting us in, some official-looking and some purely recreational. Some were motor boats, but some were sailboats, which I found particularly refreshing.
There was a Scotchman up on the front deck playing the bagpipes as we made our way into the harbor. It was a very exciting mood, and I was filled with very strong emotions as we were surrounded by the pine-covered hills and very nice looking homes along the mountain ridges and small peninsulas. It was the first sight of civilization since we left Ushuaia, which was very impovershed looking itself compared to Lyttelton.
The mountains overlooking the harbor were steep and high, with some of the mists and clouds beginning to come across them from behind us as we passed. The mountains were covered with brownish grass, with patches of pine trees (imported) bushes, the New Zealand cabbage trees (nothing to do with cabbage), and dark green bushes and brush.
As we stood looking around, we saw a group of porpoises, very small dolphin-like creatures, swimming alongside the ship in the opposite direction. They seemed to be looking up at us as they swam along.
I found a lot of contrast in the scenery, and plenty of good-looking photo scenes.
When we had completed the docking and everyone had cleared customs, we left the ship for our bus tour. The tour was to take us over the mountains to see the city of Christchurch, which I'd been looking forward to quite a lot.
Our bus took us through the very long tunnel under the mountains, and we emerged on the other side looking out at a scarcely-populated residential area and the gondola area. We didn't go on the gondola today because the weather was too misty.
We made our way through the industrial area to the southeast of Christchurch, and then through an urban residential area. The homes were on very small lots, barely large enough for the small one-level houses and a good deal of dense shrubbery and flower garden around it. Most had fences around the lots, and many were sheltered from the road by taller bushes and trees. They were very well-kept, and looked very nice with their colorful gardens and unique architectures.
We eventually entered the downtown area, and saw lots of traditional shops and marketplaces: butcher shops, barber shops, dairy shops, tea houses, etc... There were increasing signs of modern buildings encroaching, however, including a few taller high rises (probably up to 20 stories).
We made our way through dense housing and public buildings, past the Bridge of Remembrance, which is dedicated to the soldiers who fought in the World Wars. It's inscribed with the names of battles in which New Zealanders fought.
We also drove by Victoria Park (Square?), part of Christchurch's cultural center. We were told about the renovations to the park's water works, which are indeed very pleasant.
We then arrived at the Canterbury Botanical Gardens and Museum, which are near to and partially housed in the old University of Canterbury campus buildings. We were told that most of the University has moved to a much larger modern campus, which we later saw.
We were given time to walk around the gardens and tour the museum. I found the gardens more interesting, and found lots of people relaxing and having a good time among the trees, flower beds, and grassy, well-mowed fields.
I also took the opportunity to walk up to the Christ's College, Canterbury lawn.
I then walked to the edge of Hagley Park: a very large park along the Avon River which also was used for sports and a golf course.
Finally, fearful that our abbreviated tour wouldn't visit downtown Christchurch, I walked up Worcester Boulevard toward Christchurch Cathedral, and visited the monument to Robert Falcon Scott: very significant to an Antarctic tourist who's second-most recent land sighting was Cape Evans, where Scott's last Antarctic hut was located.
I saw lots of school children around, all wearing uniforms. All of them were wearing white shirts (boys wore short sleeves), and the boys wore navy shorts and ties, and the girls wore navy skirts. A few of the boys wore striped jackets and ties, and some were even wearing navy caps. Many of them were riding bicycles. It looked like something from a movie based in old England.
We got back on the busses and went to the center of downtown where Christchurch Cathedral is located.
There was a festival going on which involved a lot of flowers, especially inside the cathedral, where there were beautiful floral displays all along the outer walls and up the middle aisle.
They had people circulating through the church looking at the flowers, but I could only stay a few minutes. I suspect that my pictures from inside won't turn out...
Outside, there was a interesting sculpture depicting soldiers being watched over by an armed angel, which I took to be Gabriel, since it was female.
In the square in front of the cathedral we did indeed see an older man standing on a foot ladder haranging the people seated on the steps about some Christian topic or other. He wasn't terribly old, though, so I doubt it was the famous Wizard of Christchurch himself. The people on the steps were mostly younger, shirtless men with Rasta braids in their long dark hair. All of this surrounded by mobile ice cream and festival food stands, which in turn were surrounded by the posh shops of downtown Christchurch. Quite a mix.
Facing the catherdral on the other side of the square I noticed a monument to some gentleman (I didn't notice who it was). What struck me was the fact that this statue was obviously a very favorite perch for a pidgeon. The bird almost seemed like part of the statue...
We reentered the busses and proceded to leave town, this time passing through some of the weathier residential areas in the main city. Rather than returning through the tunnel, we went up the mountianside through increasingly wealthier areas, with houses perched on the steep sides of the mountain, some rather small nestled underneath the larger, mansion-like homes. The driveways typically were steep, diagonal cuts up through the mountain, with narrow walkways separate from the driveways. Unfortunately, by this time the fog and mist had arrived, so we could see less and less of the city as we went higher.
Near the top, we found a very nice restaurant in a building modeled after a small British castle. It was the Sign of the Takahe, which I understand is very nice. We found a small park next door to it, with platforms for viewing the city below. Unfortunately, all we could see was gray mist and the nearby neighborhoods. I did notice a shining suit of armor in the window of the castle, however.
We continued up the mountains, through progressively narrow and steep roads winding along the sheer sides of the mountains. With us driving on the left side of the road (the opposite of what I'm used to), I really was beginning to feel unsafe... We reached the top, found another restaurant, and started down the other side. There were some spectacular views down the valley from this side, and not as much mist obscuring it. Lots of sheep in the grassy areas (and a few goats), a nice harbour for a large number of sailboats, and pine trees being cultivated in patches on the mountainsides. Looking back up at the summits of the mountains, often very craggy and pointed, was really an inspiring view.
It was really too bad that we only had a couple of hours to see this area. I found so much of interest, and so many neat places and things to see... The people of Christchurch were very beautiful, and the average age seemed very young. Such a contrast to the people on the Marco Polo! I really have to come back here and spend some time. The land and the people are much too interesting to leave it at this.
This evening we'll be having our last dinner on the Marco Polo, and tomorrow morning (at 8:00am) we'll be leaving our cabins for good. By 10am we'll be off the ship and on our way to the airport, where we'll fly to Aukland. At Aukland, we'll check in at the airport, recheck our luggage, and then (probably) go on a tour of Aukland while we wait for our flight home. (It's a wait of several hours, I understand.)
In less than 36 hours, we'll be back in Detroit. In 48 hours, I'll be home in Ann Arbor. I guess I am looking forward to it, now that we've seen everything we could see, and done everything we could do.