Singapore & New Zealand: 2003
(continued)
From near Canterbury Square we take the Lyttelton bus to the Christchurch Gondola, which is located in the southeast of the city in
the Heathcore Valley. The 30-minute journey to the terminal building provides us with interesting views of Christchurch's suburbs.
The
cable car takes us to the 945-metre summit of Mount Cavendish from where there are views of Christchurch, the Canterbury Plain, the
Port Hills, and of Lyttleton Harbour. The station at the top has a 'time tunnel' of little interest, and we get the bus back into
the city
For this evening's meal we decide to eat in the Chancery, described by The Rough Guide as a "traditional, no-nonsense New
Zealand restaurant" - which sounds like the kind of food we have been looking for! And so it transpires, as we have the evening's
specials of vegetable soup (2); roast lamb (J), roast beef (D); pavlova (J), banana split (D); with wine, beer, and coffee.
Due
to the wind, it is getting a bit cold as we wait for a tram to take us part of the way back to the hotel. But when a tram arrives,
it is a restaurant car, so we decide to walk all the way, and arrive at Bealey Avenue at 8:30pm
(21) Sunday, February 16th
Another
sunny day, one for which we have planned two specific venues: the International Antarctic Centre, which is
located to the northwest
of the city; and Christchurch's port of Lyttleton, which is 12-kilometres to the southeast
The Antarctic Centre is close to the airport - where we will be departing from in exactly two weeks. Since the 1950s, Christchurch
Airport has been the base of the US Antarctic programme. We begin our visit by watching a video presentation that contains some stunning
photography of icebergs, seals, penguins, etc. Then we take a 45-minute jaunt in a genuine five-tonne tracked buggy: the Hagglunds
Ride. This bright yellow polar vehicle gives us a very rough but exhilarating ride over a course that includes hill-climbing, crossing
a crevasse, and floating across water. A brilliant experience. After recuperating with coffee in the 60° South Cafe, we take
a self-guided tour of the Antarctic Centre
Several flights a year go from Christchurch Airport to New Zealand's outpost in Antarctica at Scott Base. We get some idea
of what conditions are like at Scott Base by entering the 'Snow & Ice Experience' - here we don down jackets and overshoes in
an area where the temperature is -5°C, but cooled further by a fan to give a wind chill of -25°C. Another brilliant experience!
Leaving the Antarctic Centre at 12:15pm, we drive across Christchurch to Lyttleton on the Banks Peninsula. Christchurch and Lyttleton
are separated by the Port Hills that we climbed yesterday by means of the gondola; they are linked by the 4-kilometre Lyttleton
Tunnel which ejects us right into the heart of the port. We find a place to park and then realise that it is almost 1pm - a
significant time for the attraction for which Lyttleton is most famous: the Timeball Station.
Built by prisoners in 1876, the
Timeball Station looks like a Gothic tower that has lost it castle. Clearly visible from all over the town and harbour, for 50
years mariners set their on-board chronometers on the descent of a large ball down a pole on the tower's roof at precisely 1pm. We
move the car to the station and arrive just in time to see the ball descend. We then tour this fascinating building
The tour includes a video presentation on Greenwich Mean Time and Harrison's chronometer. A climb to the top of the tower gives us
a close-up view of the battered zinc ball and views over the harbour - our next destination
Built in Glasgow in 1907, the steam tug Lyttleton is maintained by a group of volunteers who will man the boat on our 1˝-hour trip
round the harbour
Our trip on the Lyttleton takes us to the mouth of the harbour, which was formed from a drowned volcanic crater. It is quite cold
on the outward leg, when the boat is exposed to the wind, and we are glad to be able to sit inside. However, it is warm on the way
back when the vessel follows the sheltered side of the harbour. There is plenty of smoke, the regular thud of her engines, and the
sound of coal being shovelled. Much of the boat is open to inspection including the wheelhouse and the boiler room with its sparkling
brass and oily pistons. There is also a small museum on board where David is able to purchase some unique 'stamps'.
On returning
to the jetty, Lyttleton is moored behind two cruise liners, one of which, the Regal Princess, we saw in Wellington a few days ago.
We then explore Lyttleton on foot finding the Upham Memorial Clock; the site of an old jail; and the Old Cemetery - none of which
are really worth seeing.
We then drive to the nearby seaside town of Sumner where we walk along the pleasant front before eating at a restaurant that is appropriately
called On The Beach. After discovering that the waiter's partner comes from Kings Heath, we have a most enjoyable meal. After another
walk along the front, we return to the Country Glen Lodge where David utilises the computer in the hotel's reception area where the
proprietor and his son are eating their take-away fish and chips
(right)
Norfolk Pine in Sumner