A
day of rest and relaxtion in Christchurch today. Having spent
a lovely night in our comfortable bed in The
Classic Villa, we headed out for a potter around town.
During our day in Christchurch, we took in the Gothic Revival Anglican Cathedral, watched the entertainers do their stuff in Cathedral Square, went Punting on the Avon and had a quick look into the Basilica-style Catholic Cathedral.
Neither of us have been punting before - in spite of the fact I lived in England for a number of years - and found the whole experience quite a relaxing way to spend half-an-hour of the day before pottering of to do something completely different.
For
a small fee, we were allowed to climb the spire of the cathedral.
The 100-and-something step climb to the top is well worth it
for splendid views over Cathedral Square.
Architecturally speaking, Christchurch is, along with Dunedin, one of the more interesting places we visited on this trip. Cathedral Sqaure offers a cohesive selection of styles in the Gothic Revival Cathedral, the Venetian Gothic former Post-Office and the Edwardian Regent Theatre which all provide an interesting contrast with the more modern glass-dominated buildings that surround parts of the Square.
We
also took a bit of a walk out of the centre of town to visit
the Catholic
Basilica. While we visited the Basilica a service was on,
so we popped our heads in the door before we beat a hasty retreat.
But not before establishing that the Basilica is not only good-looking
but also faithful to its European counterparts.
