Christchurch, NZ

A statue of Robert Falcon Scott in a park in Christchurch...Antarctica is following me :)

My first few days off the ice I spent in Christchurch NZ. Its a lovely city on the south island, and seems to be kind of the gateway to the south island. I am staying in a hotel that resembles living in an ipod, and have spent the last 3 days meandering around the city, getting readjusted to humanity. There is a busker festival in town, so there is a lot of street entertainment which has been fun to watch. I have been a few town markets, and got to take the tour tram. They used trams for transportation in Christchurch until the 1950s, and now they are used to give a tour of the city.

The inside of this cool old-fashioned tram from the tour

Some of the cute shops in Christchurch

One of the markets I went to, and where I bought some really comfortable sheepskin slippers!

Another great thing about Christchurch is the botanic gardens, they are huge and simply gorgeous, a really nice place to walk around and just enjoy the surroundings. There are lots of small parks all around the city, which are really nice. I haven't seen too much else (well, really anything else) in NZ, but Christchurch has given me a great impression of the country.

Its been cool because I saw it in August (winter for them) and now in January, so I have seen the changes over the seasons. I prefer the summer :)

The food is delicious here as well. Its a very international place, so you can get sushi, thai food, greek food, or burgers pretty much on every block. I had souvlaki from this delicious greek place called "Dimitris" on my first day back and it was great. Souvlaki is pretty much meat, lettuce, tomatoes, greek yogurt (and sometimes hummus and other toppings if you want) wrapped in a piece of bread that is the size and shape of naan but is thicker and softer. I have also eaten lots and lots of sushi, which has been simply wonderful. Its really the only food I missed on the ice.

I am off to Sydney this afternoon!

Edit: Pictures posted! And I learned this morning that Chc suffered another huge earthquake :( 6.3, which is large, although not as bad as the 7.3 from last year