Exploring Christchurch

Yummy breakfast at "base," then I went for a walk around sleepy little Christchurch :)

First, I walked to the Botanical Garden. It was early in the morning, so no one was around, except for the ducks!

Close to the garden is the Arts Centre, a collection of craft stores and cafes, all housed in the old buildings of the University of Canterbury (back then, Canterbury College). That's where Lord Rutherford went to college, the guy that figured out how to split the atom!
All the buildings are built in the neo-gothic style - very pretty!

I also walked past Christ's College, a prestigious all-boys high school. The buildings look very old and impressive, and there are daily tours across the campus for tourists.

Behind Christ's College lies Hagley Park, a large public park with a few golf courses.

After this little excursion, I went to the convention centre, ready to listen to some smart biologists ;)

During lunch break, I walked to the tram station to Cathedral Square.

The trams began operating in Christchurch around 1900. By the mid 50s, the tram stopped official operation, but there is still one tram going around the central city in a loop as a tourist attraction. For 12 NZD, one can ride the tram any time (get on, get off, as many times as you want) for two days (I think).

The conductor also told the passengers a little bit about the historic sites we rode by, and pointed out cafes or shopping opportunities.
The whole loop around the city only took about 30 minutes, so when I got off, I walked around on my own some more.

I also found a cute little Danish bakery - the cakes look delicious!

On my way back I ran into Keysa, a girl I had met at the hostel. We got some cookies at the conference and then went for a walk.

Keysa hadn't seen the Arts Centre or the Botanical Garden yet, so I took her on a quick tour.
We took the time to look at "Rutherford's Den," a little museum located in Rutherford's old Math/English lecture hall. We also saw the "den," where the young Rutherford had conducted his first Physics experiments, and learned a little bit about his time at the university.

After we shopped for some souvenirs, we went back to "base."

Later that night, we walked back to the convention centre for the "Carvery Meal" - free food and socializing :)
A crazy musician with a large afro sang and played the guitar. He was pretty good, but they turned up the volume too much - you couldn't comfortably talk anymore without shouting :((

On our way back, we stopped by a pub called "Bard on the Avon," which apparently is very popular with the local Kiwis. The place was packed, but it was warm :)

(The "Avon" is a river that winds its way through Christchurch - really quite beautiful, take a look at the pictures!)

This day turned into a "sight seeing day" instead of a "lecture day." But I am quite glad I went today, because the sun was out!