Today was a day of walking around Christchurch, starting with a visit to the Art centre, rebuilt following the earthquake in 2011. Great place with lots of arts and crafts including the ‘house in the air’ in photo 2.

Then over to the Botanical gardens for a walk in the sunshine, then along the river Avon and a cup of tea (not necessarily in that order).

Julie then insisted we saw a proper church so we headed off to the ‘Cardboard Cathedral’. An amazing place built as a temporary replacement while the actual Christchurch Cathedral is being rebuilt. And yes, it is mainly built of cardboard tubes.

We then retired to the hotel for a beer and a chat with the lovely Iesha who served our drinks. We asked her where we should visit if we were here for only one day. Having lived in Christchurch all of her life, Iesha said we should head off to New Brighton beach. Great suggestion Iesha, we loved it. Great at serving drinks and great with local suggestions.

So having collected the ‘Buddie Mobile’, we took it on it’s first run.

At New Brighton beach we discovered was 2 things – a) incredibly windy and b) the very small town closes at 6pm.. everywhere! However, we had a nice walk along the pier and enjoyed the spectacular sea views.

Tomorrow we say farewell to Christchurch (you were fab) and head south for Lake Tekapo.