We were all up Wednesday, packed and down to have our breakfast. Many had their plates at their tables. We were supposed to have a nice breakfast and catch the coach for the final time in the North Island. Ray would drive us to the Ferry Terminal. We would ride the Ferry across Cook Strait to Picton on the South Island. There we would pick up our South Island coach driver and guide, John, and drive to Christchurch. That was the plan. As we have learned when traveling, one must be flexible.
Remember that wind I was writing about. Well, it came to kick us a bit. McKenna came in to our breakfast and alerted us that all the ferries this day were canceled. We must go to Plan B. We needed to not eat breakfast. Get our bags and get downstairs to the coach as quickly as possible. Air New Zealand had been contacted and they could get 32 more people on their first flights of the day from Wellington to Christchurch. Food was left on the table. We hotfooted it to our rooms and grabbed our packed bags. Claude and I were the first down the elevator to the lobby. Bags were loaded in the coach and we were off to the airport. That tiny runway I showed you in the Tuesday post. Yep, we were going to do this.
We made it to the Wellington Airport. We formed a line and two sets of ticket agents worked their magic to get all 32 of us boarding passes. It would take three planes to get it done, but they did it. This meant part of our crew stayed at the Wellington Airport waiting for their flights and having breakfast there. The rest of us flew to Christchurch and waited in the Christchurch airport and had our breakfast there as the remainder of our group eventually caught their flights and met up with us. A bit of a circus but all really went well.
This is the Wellington Airport.
This is taking off on the runway in Wellington. Note the swells in the water beside the runway. This confirmed why no ferries would be running this day.
Claude and I got a kick out of the barf bag on the Air New Zealand plane. Be sure you read the fine print at the bottom. Hilarious!
First view of Christchurch.
A quick bus tour of Christchurch before going to the hotel. Part of the reason they do this is to get to acquainted with their city. The other part is to stall till check-in time at the hotel. I will just mention here we had a temporary coach driver and guide. Since our real driver and guide was in Picton where he thought we would be. We would meet John the next day. This day I can't even remember the drivers name. Let's just say he took us to the wrong hotel. He was inept. Maybe in training. Grateful when John made his appearance the next day. Our coach driver did say something cute: "Hope you're wearing your woolies today? It is 9 degrees in Christchurch." 9 degrees Celsius is about 48 degrees Fahrenheit.
The big cathedral in town was damaged by a very bad earthquake several years before. It is now covered in scaffolding as they work to repair it. Money was given to build a new cathedral. The lady in charge picked this style and the locals were not happy about it at all. It serves as the cathedral until they get the original one restored. That earthquake actually closed the downtown area for a few years because of all the damage. The tall Hyatt Hotel actually has their stairwells pancake down.
This is a touching reminder that 9-11 touched the world as well as the United States. These are steel beams from the towers as a monument in New Zealand.
There is LOTS of graffiti in Christchurch. They have put some of these artists to work and they have painted amazing murals on the sides of buildings in Christchurch. Here are a few I was able to get pictures of.
After checking into the hotel, we needed to find a source for water in our room. We asked the front desk and they sent up around the other side of their block. The trolley station is there. It has been covered over and is lined with shops on either side with the trolley running right down the middle. This extended into the next block over. We found our water and then walked this area.
We found a little restaurant that sold Korean corn dogs. Okay, curiosity is piqued. We bought one and shared it. These are made with rice flour instead of cornmeal for the breading. They come with the hot dog on a stick. Around the hot dog you can have cheese and/or sausage. We opted for both. They battered it with the rice flour mixture. When done, they roll it in granulated sugar and put mustard and/or catsup on it. We opted for mustard. It was delicious. While we sat and ate, the trolley came down the middle of the street.
We ran into a nice gorilla with whom I enjoyed a nice chat.
Back to the hotel. We would enjoy an excellent meal in the Novotel Christchurch Cathedral Square hotel. When we came back to Christchurch, we would replicate that meal. When we finished, I took this picture of Christchurch from the end of hall our way in the hotel.
Night, Night!!
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