Christchurch (the one in New Zealand)

Today I said goodbye to Lake Tekapo. Before hitting the road to Christchurch, I headed up to the Astro Café at Mt John’s Observatory, situated on top of a steep hill just outside of town. The coffee was good and the views amazing, offering me one last look at Mount Cook.

From there I made the pleasant drive and uneventful drive to Christchurch, the biggest city on New Zealand’s South Island – albeit with only 400,000 inhabitants. I started by exploring the small but richly stocked botanical gardens.

Next, I headed into the city centre. Christchurch was devastated by a severe earthquake in 2011, which killed around 170 people and left extensive damage. It caused two major buildings to collapse and left many others badly damaged – around 1/3 of the city centre’s constructions had to be demolished and rebuilt as a result. On my visit, these efforts seemed to be nearing completion and had left an interesting mix of old and new architecture.

Cantebury University’s old buildings (1917) survived the earthquake

Work was still ongoing to repair the cathedral, whose spire collapsed in the earthquake. A temporary replacement had been built a short distance away and is nicknamed the “cardboard cathedral”.

The sides of the newer buildings often had impressive street art, like the huge mural at the top of the page and lots of other examples throughout the city.

Christchurch seemed to have a very young population…….and a lot of bars and restaurants to keep them amused. I stopped to have a drink in one of them before heading back to my motel to cook dinner.

New Regent Street in Christchurch is lined with bars

Whilst Christchurch is not a place you would travel across the world to see, in the context of my New Zealand trip it came as a pleasant break from the succession of natural wonders I had seen so far, and I liked it a lot. It had a dynamic, young and above all resilient vibe to it – an impressive outcome after the destruction of the 2011 earthquake. My brief visit left me refreshed for more adventures in New Zealand…..

Next Post: The Banks Peninsula, Akaroa and Dolphins

Previous Post: More Mount Cook

1st April 2025 4

Melbourne – the Botanic Gardens, NGV, Victoria Market and Mornington Peninsula

On the next couple of days I visited some of Melbourne’s more traditional sights. To the southeast of the city centre is a large expanse of green parkland along the banks of the Yarra River, which houses the Rod Laver Stadium , Melbourne’s iconic Cricket Ground and its Botanic Gardens…….

Melbourne also is home to the NGV or National Gallery of Victoria, which has two centres, one devoted to international art and one to Australian works. I visited the latter, of which the highlight was the aboriginal art collection.

As well as art and cultural life, Melbourne is famous for its food scene. Eateries range from top end places, ranked amongst the best restaurants in the world, to the incredibly cheap Asian options cramming Chinatown’s streets. It would be silly not to indulge, so I visited Melbourne’s foodies paradise, Victoria market, to buy some food for the evening and had some cheap Ethiopian street food for lunch.

Having explored Melbourne’s centre for a couple of days, I next ventured further afield– first on a long tram trip to the beach neighbourhood of St Kilda. The route went through a residential area, amazingly composed almost entirely of quaint one- and two- storey houses – as surprisingly small as the centre’s skyscrapers seem excessively tall.

Typical house outside of Melbourne’s centre

After the crowds of the city centre, St Kilda’s beach was a pleasant place to chill, with a view over the sea – flat like a mirror – all the way back to the city centre.

I also made a longer trip by hire car to the Mornington Peninsula. The city’s suburbs stretch for miles, but after an hour of driving I found myself in pleasant countryside – an area with farms, craft breweries, gin distilleries……..and lots of wineries. It would be a crime to come to Australia and not do a wine tasting, so I visited the well-known Red Hill Estate and tasted a range of excellent wines made from cold climate grape varieties like chardonnay or pinot noir.

Wine tasting at the Red Hill Estate, Mornington Peninsula

The peninsula also houses two pretty national parks, where I went for a brief walk before rain started to fall (the first rain of my Australian trip).

Cape Schanck Lighthouse, Mornington Pensinsula

Coastal scenery on the Mornington Peninsula

On my last night in the city, I had time for one last typically Melbourne experience – a private members club. The Savage Club sits in this impressive building which dates from the city’s 19th century boom years.

Inside (no photos allowed sadly) there were lots of the rooms typical of clubs back in London, with huge leather armchairs so deep, soft and comfortable that once seated with a glass of port in my paw it was hard to move. Fortunately, the seat I had chosen allowed an excellent view some extraordinary Polynesian and Melanesian tribal art, tastefully displaced around all four walls of the bar room. The foundation of this collection came from a past member who had been a governor of Papua New Guinea and had received many gifts from the local people there, which he later donated to the club. The Melbourne Savage Club is modelled on its London namesake and attracts writers, musicians and painters. Some of the regular members came up to welcome an unfamiliar face (something that would not happen in a London club!) and chatted about my impressions of their city. The club was a wonderful way to end my exploration of Melbourne – a place which rewards those that spend a few days to dig under its surface.

Previous Post: Melbourne Street Art

22nd March 2025 8

Sydney – the other side of the world

Travel is a wonderful thing. From a cold (8°C) London evening I emerged very early in the morning, after 20 hours in a plane, to a sunny, 28°C Sydney in Australia. Immigration turned out to be surprisingly chaotic – I filled in a form on the plane, then queued up to be rejected by the automatic passport control (like 90% of my fellow passengers) and queued again for a passport check by a human. At each stage I was asked if I had a criminal record, which I thought a bit strange – surely you no longer need one to enter Australia? However, baggage collection, customs inspections (strict in Australia) and transport into town went more smoothly and I found my accommodation, the Union University and Schools Club (UUSC), quite easily. The club is located in a old building surrounded by the skyscrapers of Sydney’s CBD (central business district).
After a brief nap, I set off to explore. I devoted today to Sydney’s highlights, heading to the harbour at Circular Quay to take the boat across to Milsons Point. The short trip offered some great views of Sydney’s Iconic Opera House.

On arrival, the jetty offered one of the classic views of Sydney:

I took the lift up onto the bridge and started walking down the pedestrian path on the far left hand side back towards central Sydney. Nearing the other end, I reached one of the supporting towers or pylons where there was an interesting museum covering the history of the bridge’s construction over 1923 to 1931. On the top was a viewing platform with the best views yet.

Sydney Opera House taken from the Harbour Bridge

On top of the bridge’s steel arch I could see groups of tourists climbing up – the views must be even better right on the top, but the climb is apparently very expensive and not for the faint-hearted. As a small, light teddy bear I would be worried about being blown off.

After enjoying a cool breeze on top of the pylon, I finished crossing the bridge and took a lift down to the historical Rocks area of Sydney. This is where the first Australian settlers made their homes, and some of the old buildings survive to this day (including Sydney’s oldest pubs). Today the Rocks is a tourist and arts centre, with a market, small shops, cafes and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Harbour Bridge from the MCA Roof Terrace

It was now early afternoon and the unaccustomed heat and 11-hour time difference with London was beginning to affect me – back home, it was 3am, which I simply could not get my head around. I headed back to my club for another snooze and to avoid the afternoon sun. As evening approached I set off again to visit the Botanical Gardens, which were a short walk away. They were packed with exotic plants which in Kew Gardens, near my home in London, would be in glasshouses, but which here thrived in the open.

I left the gardens briefly to stroll down to Mrs McQuarrie’s Point, a peninsula which gives a magnificent view of the harbour, its busy boat traffic, the bridge and the Opera House.

Taken from the Botanic Gardens – a huge cruise liner sails away

Another short stroll through the gardens took me to the Opera House itself, which on a sunny Friday evening had become a magnet for Sydney’s young population to come to enjoy a beer whilst enjoying one of the world’s most famous views.

Friday evening – Party Time at the Opera Bar

The Opera House has a highly-rated restaurant, which was fully booked for that evening, so instead I headed back into the CBD and had an excellent dinner at a place called Morena. It was good to unwind after a first day packed with iconic sights. After dinner, the heat and the jet lag finally caught up with me and once back in the UUCS club I collapsed onto my bed and fell fast asleep.

Next Post: From Bondi Beach to Coogee

16th March 2025 7