The Church of the Good Shepherd, the Garden City, and the Cardboard Cathedral: Drive to Christchurch, Christchurch, and the Journey to Wellington
9/27-9/29
We got up in the morning to pack and then drove into town to get our last meal in Wanaka at Urban Grind. We got the famous hot chocolate, with the entire bar of milk chocolate in it, and I had the Mediterranean baked eggs with beans. We drove to a town called Twizzle, about an hour and a half away, and then stopped at a lookout over Lake Pukaki. You could see Mount Cook/Aoraki over some of the bluest water that I have ever seen. We drove by the shores of the lake into Aoraki National Park and looked through the museum and visitor’s center there. We spent some time outside, with an amazing view of Mount Cook and another mountain called the Footstool. This side of Mount Cook was covered in ice and glaciers. It was bright blue in places, but the shadows, points, and everything else made for a very interesting color scheme. All the points were so sharp that it looked like a drawing.
We drove to Lake Tekapo, where we got lunch at Dog Friday. All they had were hot dogs and hamburgers, but the Bratwurst I got was actually delicious, with pickles, relish, onions, sauce, and a bunch of other things. We drove down to the Church of the Holy Shepherd on the banks of the lake. I am not a very spiritual person: I don’t go to church or belong to any particular religion, but I do believe there is something good out there, even if I don’t know what. The only place I’ve ever felt closer to whatever that is is at home with my family. Even with all the tourists swarming all over the place, it felt so sacred and so close to something. That said, there were some very disrespectful people there, taking pictures of the inside when it clearly said no pictures, talking very loudly in the church. I blogged on the rest of our three-hour drive to Christchurch. We watched reruns of the Eagles vs. Packers game before walking to Speight’s Ale House. I got sweet potato fries and a side salad.
The next day, Dad and I went on a run around Hagley Park. I always think running in a new city is a great way to see some parts of the city without any specific goal or tour. We rinsed off and went to the Air Force Museum for Jackson. It was actually pretty cool and there was a fun flight simulator. We dropped off the rental car and walked to lunch at a place called Bloody Mary’s, where I got a chicken caesar salad. We went by the Cardboard Cathedral, which was really beautiful. The original church was damaged in the awful earthquake in 2010, so they built that church, which was 90% cardboard. It had some really beautiful stained glass and it was also made in the shape of a triangle. We went by the old Church and then to the Art Gallery. There was a really cool exhibit there that had a spotlight that made different shapes on the walls. I don’t know why, but it was so fascinating. We went through the Canterbury Museum and walked through the botanical gardens. We had dinner at the Curator’s House, with ham and chicken pastries (called croquettes), calamari, lamb, a cheese platter, and lentil and chorizo soup. We walked back to the hotel and got in bed quickly.
On the twenty-ninth, we got up early to pack and walked to the train station. We took the train to Picton, where we got on the inter-islander ferry to get to the North Island and Wellington. We took a shuttle to our new apartment and got settled. We walked down the hill to the Hop Garden for dinner (edamame and the Reuben) and then watched the Wake Forest vs. Boston College game (on delay).
“Awakening is not changing who you are but discarding who you are not.”