We quit the bus, cold turkey. After a grueling 9 hour ride from Queenstown to Christchurch, with less leg room than the back seat of a Miata, and staring down the barrel of two more ten hour rides, PLUS a ferry ride (which gives Jake night terrors), we decided to take matters into our own hands and find our own way back to Auckland, where we planned to spend our last two weeks. So, we set out to find cheap airfare to Auckland and fate played us a good hand in the form of 2 $99 tickets.
Have no fear, underdog is here. Of all the "large" Kiwi cities we've been to, Christchurch seems to be the most under-rated. Heaps of backpackers were telling us that Christchurch is the most boring, with the least to do. Liars. Fools.
Not only does Christchurch actually resemble a real city (they have street lights and everything!), there's more to do there than in Queenstown! If you have some time to kill, there's loads of free activities as well as some paid ones.
Our lazy Christchurch days were spent touring the free Guthrey Center art museum with art from all time periods, and a particular focus on Kiwi artists. If you're more into parks than art, Christchurch offers a half dozen of the best groomed parks, including a picturesque botanical gardens for all you flora-philes out there. We spent most of our time in Cathedral Square, basking in the sun next to the church from which the city gets its name. Touring the church only takes about an hour and won't cost you a dime (unless you make a donation)!
But the real fun is in the Square itself. Spend a day in Cathedral Square, and you're in for a treat. With steet performers everywhere they can find a bare piece of pavement, the entertainment is never more than a few steps away. Or, if you're in for some intellectual stimulation, there's always the giant chess board where anyone can pick up a game, just as Gen and I tried to do. But, as Gen's never played before, and my working knowledge of chess includes referring to pieces as "horse" and "castle" our humility overtook us and we gave way to the spectators who wanted to enjoy a real game. The real chess players come here to get there hands on some big chess pieces and some big money, betting on every game that is played.
But the real highlight of our stop-over in Christchurch was the music festival. We were fortunate enough to be in town the night that Christchurch has their yearly musical benefit for Cystic Fibrosis, Starry Nights. For two hours, a world famous in New Zealand musical troup does renditions of different modern, classical, and theatrical musical pieces. The even had a Souvlaki stand, and boy was that a treat!
Christchurch is worth the time. They have good activities, including a small cinema where each theatre only has about 50 seats, and heaps to offer.
