Travelogue

Observatory Tower HotelNot wanting to immediately dive into our campervan adventure, we booked our first two nights in New Zealand at the Observatory Hotel in Christchurch, which had a great location, in proximity to museums, the botanical garden, and lots of restaurants.

The Observatory Tower, which we stayed in, was originally part of the University of Canterbury campus and once housed the Townsend Telescope.

Our room at the Observatory TowerBesides the tower, the old campus contained several Gothic Revival buildings, constructed in 1896. It reminded me so much of Ivy League campuses in the U.S., such as Princeton and Yale.

When the University of Canterbury campus moved to the Christchurch suburb of Ilam in 1975, the current buildings were gifted to the people of Christchurch and became the Arts Center of Christchurch, a vibrant hub for arts and culture. Today there are art galleries, a cinema, a great hall where concerts are held, and much more.

Unfortunately, the 2011 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Christchurch resulted in massive destruction to much of Christchurch, including the Observatory Tower, which collapsed, as well as most of the other buildings on the old campus.

Observatory Tower ParlorA major restoration project was undertaken, and in 2022, the restored buildings were transformed into the Observatory Hotel. Although the transformation to a hotel required some modernization, they did a great job of respecting the history of the building, making us feel like we could have been students back in 1896.

Upon arrival at the Observatory Tower, we took a quick nap before heading out to explore the city. I felt like a little munchkin in the bed looking up at the 18-foot-high ceilings.

Art Gallery Te Puna o WaiwhetūOur first order of business was visiting Christchurch’s famous Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, which in Maori means "the wellspring of star-reflecting waters." This name holds deep cultural significance for the Maori people, connecting the gallery to the land and its history.

The museum, which is now one of my favorites, is free and contains a broad range of art mostly focusing on art from the Canterbury region of New Zealand and New Zealand as a whole, including Maori art and contemporary works that reflect the country's diverse cultural landscape.

Art Gallery Te Puna o WaiwhetūThe building itself was a work of art, featuring a striking, flowing glass and metal facade, which is intended to evoke the koru and flow of Christchurch’s Avon River. Koru is the Maori word for a spiral shape that symbolizes new beginnings, growth, and harmony. It's a key symbol in Māori art, carving, and tattooing.

Once inside, I was totally blown away by two hyperrealistic sculptural pieces, where the people were so unbelievably realistic that I wanted to strike up a conversation with them - although they both looked quite absorbed in what they were doing.

"Woman and Child"Both of them were made from silicone, and meticulously inserted human hair. The wrinkles and sagging skin of an elderly person, the protruding veins, and facial expressions were so unbelievably lifelike - I could relate to.

The first one was called "Woman and Child" by Sam Jinks.

It depicts an elderly woman holding a baby with such tenderness that I would have loved to know their story. Being a recent grandma myself, I assumed the woman was the child’s grandmother.

“Chicken / Man”The second one was called “Chicken / Man.”

It depicts a naked, paunchy elderly man, clad only in tidy whities, sitting at a table with his feet braced heavily against the floor, seemingly having a staring contest with a younger sprightly chicken glaring back at him.

They looked like two combatants waiting for the other to back down. I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for.

I could go on and on about the interesting works in this museum, but there was so much more to see in Christchurch.

AmazonitaWe hadn’t eaten anything since we got off the plane, so we wandered over to the Riverside Market, along the River Avon, which has lots of restaurants, cafes, and bars. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants close around 5:00 pm, so we went back out and walked north on Oxford Terrace along the Avon River looking for the liveliest restaurant we could find.

The Amazonita had live music outside and a bustling crowd inside. We managed to get one of the last tables. We started with a glass of wine and admired the brightly colored murals of birds and vegetation on the wall, which I assume were typical scenes that you would find along the Amazon. Dinner was excellent.

Peacock FountainRecharged, we headed over to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, located right across the street from our hotel.

At the entrance to the Gardens is the beautiful and iconic Peacock Fountain. Made of bronze and marble. Standing 25-feet tall, this large circular fountain with a central column that sprays water in all directions, surrounded by a ring of smaller fountains. It is adorned with herons, playful dolphins, and large lily leaves.

Where were the peacocks? I wondered, only to find out later that Peacock was the surname of the man who funded the fountain and gave it as a gift to the city in 1911.

The fountain is recognized as a fine and somewhat rare example of ornate Edwardian ornamental cast ironwork, reflecting the British influence on New Zealand architecture. After all, New Zealand had become a colony of Great Britain in 1840.

Christchurch Botanical GardensTearing myself away from taking far too many pictures of this very photogenic fountain from every possible angle, we entered the 52-acre gardens.

The garden is known for its Historic Tree Walk where there are a wide variety of trees that were planted in the 19th century, including English oak, giant sequoia, monkey puzzle trees, royal purple beech trees, Lawson and Monterey cypresses, silver peppermint, lime trees, eucalyptus, maritime pines, cedar, cypress, fir, larch, juniper, pine, and spruce.

Christchurch Botanical GardensThere were also lovely, colorful gardens of rhododendrons, calla lilies, roses (Hybrid Tea, Heritage), tulips, primula, Iceland poppies, petunia, begonia, aster, geranium, daffodils, azaleas, and magnolias.

The gardens also have specific areas dedicated to different types of plants, such as the Central Rose Garden, the New Zealand Garden, the Rock Garden, and the Herb Garden.
Botanical gardens always make me wish I knew more about botany.

Christchurch Botanical GardensIt had been a pretty full first day in New Zealand, so we headed back to the Observatory Hotel. However, I just couldn’t get past the lovely parlor without sitting for a bit with a cup of decaf cappuccino in hand, admiring the many books they had the history, culture, and beauty of New Zealand.

Then it was off to sleep. We had seen so much today that it was hard to believe that we had just arrived this morning.

Brunch at the Unknown ChapterWe had another full day to explore Christchurch, so we decided to start off with a hearty breakfast at the Unknown Chapter, a popular bustling cafe along our way to explore some of the city’s famous street art.

One thing we were learning about New Zealand was that it has excellent food and at a reasonable price, especially after taking into consideration the favorable exchange rate and the fact that there is no tipping. So with that, you could pretty much cut the cost in half.

I had the first of what would be many eggs benedict breakfasts in New Zealand. This one had spinach and I added salmon to it. It was absolutely delicious.

Herb went for the artery clogging “Classic” - Free range bacon, pork & apple sausage, poached eggs, field mushrooms, roast tomatoes, potato rosti, toasted sourdough. I think he thinks that “free range” pigs make them healthier to eat.

The resilience of ChristchurchAfter breakfast, we headed out towards Cathedral Square to see how progress was going on rebuilding the Cathedral since it was so badly damaged in the 2011 earthquake.

In fact, most of Christchurch was pretty much destroyed during the earthquake, so almost all the buildings in the central part of town are new construction.

The Christchurch Cathedral was built between 1864 and 1894 in the center of the city, surrounded by what is now Cathedral Square. In 2011 the earthquake destroyed the spire and the upper portion of the tower, and severely damaged the rest of the building.

Damaged Christ Church CathedralAfter several years of progress on reinstating the church, the project was halted due to lack of funding. Although some progress has been made, the project’s completion is currently uncertain.

We couldn’t really get a good photo of the progress, or the lack thereof, because it was blocked off, with only a bit of the top visible. It was sad to think that it might never be reinstated if new funding is not raised.

The ChaliceIn the meantime, the “Cardboard Cathedral” was built as a transitional church to serve the Anglican congregation. It is named the Cardboard Cathedral because the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban used cardboard tubes in its construction, along with timber and steel.

It has become an iconic symbol of Christchurch's resilience and recovery after the earthquakes.

We walked to the Cardboard Cathedral hoping to photograph it, but it was currently being used for choir practice and no photos were allowed.

One of the few things in Christchurch that did survive the 2011 earthquake unscathed is the iconic “Chalice,” a giant steel vessel created by internationally acclaimed Christchurch sculptor Neil Dawson in 2001 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Christchurch.

Christchurch Street ArtIt's constructed from steel and features intricate cut-out patterns of native New Zealand plants.

Near the square, there is also some very interesting street art. Christchurch is known for its impressive street art, with murals and installations throughout the city.

We wandered back towards our hotel planning to cross over the Avon River on the Bridge of Remembrance, a stone bridge with a sculpted triumphal memorial arch to those who died in World War I.

Christchurch Street ArtAs we were crossing the bridge, a man asked us if we had seen the eels. Seeing the confused looks on our faces, he explained that below the bridge at the bottom of a series of stairs, giant eels gathered looking for a handout of bread, but he warned us to not let them take a finger off.

It sounded like fun, so we went to a nearby convenience store to buy some eel food. I’m not sure what kind of convenience store doesn’t sell bread, but when we asked the guy behind the cash register, we apparently met the only person so far who didn’t speak English. He didn’t even understand the word bread. So we looked around and found a box of what looked like Ritz crackers and headed back to the river.

New Zealand giant longfin eelsHe wasn’t kidding. As soon as we approached the river, they started congregating and circling and practically climbing all over each other to get at our Ritz crackers.

The gentleman on the bridge had told us that they are giant longfin eels and that they live in many of New Zealand’s rivers. However, they just don’t hang in the rivers their entire lives, because the adult eels need to spawn in the ocean, specifically in the South Pacific Ocean near Tonga - a 3,000 mile journey

Feeding the eelsI think the adults die (or retire) there, but after their offspring hatch (they are larval eels at this point), they drift on ocean currents back to New Zealand. This journey across the Pacific can take over 15 months.

Once they reach New Zealand's shores, they transform into glass eels and then elvers, and begin their journey upstream. I’m not sure if they return to the same river their parents were from (like salmon) or just go up any river.

Okay, these eels had earned our respect and deserved a Ritz cracker or two. So, we spent a good half hour or so trying to tempt them with crackers. Herb was brave enough to hold the cracker in his hand while one took it, but I dropped mine immediately upon seeing one coming my way.

“Diminish and Ascend”Since it was still early, we decided to take another walk through the botanical gardens.

In addition to the lovely trees and flowers we had seen yesterday, we stumbled upon a small pond with what I called a “stairway to nowhere” rising from the middle of the pond and abruptly ending high up in the air.

Each of the steps got narrower and narrower producing the optical illusion of being an endless stairway, or more poetically, an infinite stair to heaven. It was created by David McCracken, a New Zealand sculptor.

Punting on the AvonThe real name of the stairway is “Diminish and Ascend” - a pretty good name but I like my “Stairway to Nowhere” better. Or, perhaps “Stairway to Heaven,” but Led Zeppelin already claimed that.

This time we walked back through the park along the Avon River, and saw our first “punter” “punting” a “punt” in the Avon River. In Christchurch, punting is sort of the equivalent of a gondola ride in Venice. Perhaps a bit of explanation is needed.

When “punting,” up to about 8 people (puntees??) sit in a flat-bottomed boat while the “punter” (dressed in traditional Edwardian attire) stands at the back of the boat and uses a long pole to push against the shallow riverbed to propel the boat along the river.

Dinner at the Little FiddleIt is a very popular activity for tourists visiting Christchurch and its most popular route is through the Botanical Gardens.

That evening we strolled back over to the Riverside Market area to find a place to eat. There really are so many choices.

We settled on an Irish pub called the Little Fiddle, because it seemed quite lively as an Irish pub should. It was quite cozy and Herb’s lamb shank and my roasted pork were delicious.

Our lovely Observatory HotelAfter dinner we went back to the Observatory Tower and wandered around the Art Center, which also serves as a campus. Although the main campus has been moved to Ilum, there are still some classes held on this campus, especially related to music and the arts.

As we strolled around, we were treated to the magical experience of acapela voices filling the air. We looked around to see where they were coming from, Then we looked up and saw lights on in a classroom above us where music students were practicing.

It was dark now, so Herb and I walked across the street to the Peacock Fountain, because we had seen a poster earlier in the day showing the Fountain totally lit up with colorful lights.

Peacock Fountain at nightSo we stood there and stared at it for a while, but nothing happened. I guess it is only done on special occasions. Still, the fountain, even with its ordinary everyday lights, was quite beautiful, especially with the Gothic Revival buildings of the campus as a backdrop.

As I mentioned, Christchurch is a city where art is everywhere, even in the sky. While waiting for the fountain to light up, Herb pointed out what looked like a pencil drawing of a building hovering in the air above the Christchurch Art Center buildings by our hotel.

The "Echo"At first I thought it was a hologram, but we later found out that it is an aerial wire sculpture called “Echo.” This “sky drawing” was created by Neil Dawson, the same artist that created the Chalice in Cathedral Square. It creates an optical illusion, appearing to change form depending on where we stood.

On the way back to our room, we had to stop for one last time in the beautiful parlor for our pre-bed decaf cappuccino. This was getting to be a bad habit.

Brunch at the Westend Stories CafeThe next morning, before heading over to Wilderness Motorhome Rentals, we went to the Westend Stories Cafe, another one of Christchurch’s wonderful cafes for breakfast.

The food in Christchurch has really been over-the-top delicious. This morning I went healthy with the Granola bowl - Greek Yogurt with apple compote and seasonal fruit. I forget what Herb had, but I am pretty sure it involved bacon.

I am so glad we had decided to spend two nights in Christchurch. I knew it would be nice, but it exceeded expectations in every way - great art, beautiful gardens, delicious food, and friendly people.

Now, it was on to Wilderness Motorhomes to pick up our home for the next 15 days.