Christchurch, my friends, Christchurch! I’ll be wrapping up my time here in New Zealand soon and I’m staying with my (very generous!) friend Darryl on Tennyson Street in a neighborhood called Beckenham. For the most part I’m spending my days doing pretty darn “normal” things– walking around Christchurch, taking some drives to places a bit further afield than I’m willing to walk to and then in the evening checking my step count to see what it is and basing my evening walk on how close I am to making goal. The days have been mostly sunny, and even when it’s rained it hasn’t been much. Christchurch is truly in its summer-time, and it’s wonderful to sit somewhere and enjoy the day passing me by. Guess I’m saving up my leisure-time memories to get me through the transition to winter, going back to work, and shorter hours of daylight upon my return to California!! I’ve been terrible at taking photos, but here are a few for you:
Had to take this one for EO! There was a gnome too, but it wasn’t where I could photograph it without trespassing!
After I huffed and puffed my way up the hill (cardio fitness level ain’t what it used to be folks!) I was rewarded with a sweeping view of Christchurch.
Taking photos is an EXCELLENT way to stall while catching your breath…
Well, I’ve done my part to support the local coffee economy, that’s for certain.
Red bracing was a post-earthquake addition, but heck– it looks pretty good!
The local library was hosting a quilt show and upcoming event with Kaffe Fassett and another quilter. Quilts on display are based on Kaffe’s designs and mostly use his fabric line.
Quilt on the left is my favorite of them.
Pretty much all that remains on the site of the local Baptist church. Message changes weekly.
Lovely entryway… apparently the building itself was a victim of the earthquake.
The Avon river might not be as clean as it used to be, but this dog was happy happy happy to be in the water!
Herdez goes gourmet pricing here in New Zealand.
WHOA doggie! That’s right folks: $5.15 for a can of Old El Paso refried beans.
A bit hard to read, it says:
Stop deep sea oil drilling in New Zealand. Get active.
YES!! Two weeks straight of hitting my step goal. If I can just keep it up…
In the same shop cluster as Arts Centre Books is Woodcraft Gallery. LOTS of locally made NZ wood items for sale here.
In a couple of days I’ll start working on some more posts. It’s a bit harder to get online to do them now than when it was, so you’ll just have to wait a bit for them.
Love the fairy tale mushroom! But you know gnomes don’t obey trespassing laws so neither should you when in pursuit of a photo…
Your sighting of ‘see the beauty here’ graffiti is a delightful little wink from home! That stencil is from a set published by your hometown Chronicle Books. Crazy cool to see inspiration aimed at you from halfway around the globe!