A Trip to Australia and New Zealand
Christ Church
After Dunedin the next stop, following another night of sailing, was Christ Church. Christ Church is as English as Dunedin is Scottish. Many of the earliest settlers had been educated in Christ Church College and they named their new settlement accordingly. More than that - they fashioned the town that grew up around the themes that they were familiar with in their homeland. A Gothic church serves as the focal point of town and the River Avon streams through the central town garden which is replete with colorful ducks, heroic statues, verdant lawns and flat-bottomed punts for hire (propelled by gentlemen in the requisite straw hats). The annual Busker's Festival was in full swing so we joined a crowd and watched one of the enjoyable shows featuring two very athletic young men, a hat, some flaming torches, and a tall ladder. We did the very modern museum in cursory fashion and then wandered in the shops which have been established in what was formerly the college. Not surprisingly the old college buildings resembled traditional English halls of learning and the shops had a wide selection of excellent New Zealand handicrafts. There was also another museum which had an excellent Maori collection as well as a cottage full of kitsch decor. Christ Church was also the location of the first New Zealand brew pub that we visited (excellent draft beer).
