Christchurch

In the Daffodil Woodland at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.
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Christchurch is a beautiful English-style city, lots of old stone buildings and cobblestone streets with a cathedral to top it off (although wherever we go in the world we always seem to visit old cathedrals whenever they're undergoing restoration).

It was the end of September and all the flowers in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens were in bloom.  Although the seasons are definitely reversed here in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the first time we really felt the difference.

Christchurch Cathedral (under renovation).
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Christchurch was the jumping-off point for a lot of explorers to Antarctica.  There was an interesting Antarctic photography and art display going on when we were there, and the Christchurch museum has a fantastic Antarctic display.  I think an Antarctic cruise is definitely in the books now; there's something romantic and mysterious about this desolate and most inhospitable place on Earth.  I can understand Shackleton's and Ross's obsession with the continent.

We got dressed up in our travel clothes (as fancy as that gets) and felt totally out of place with the Christchurch theatre crowd attending a play at the Court Theatre, called "Who Wants to Be 100? (Anyone Who's 99)".  It was a comedy-drama about life in an old-folks home -- very bittersweet, and extremely well done.  Made us miss going to the theatre at home (but only just a little...)