A very livable city

We spent a total of three days and four nights in Christchurch. What a lovely town. First off it is small. Second, there is this lovely little river, a stream really, meandering through the heart of it called the Avon. Huge weeping willows drape over it and you can get a boatman (a punter) to take you on a half hour ride downstream. Third, there is this glorious Botanical Gardens in town that you could visit everyday and never tire of. We just hit some of the highlights. For example, there is this tree planted by Queen Victoria’s second son Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1869. He was the first member of the Royal family to ever visit new Zealand and you can almost imagine the ceremony there in the Botanic Gardens. This tree is now gargantuan, it is a kind of cedar. I rather think I should like for people to plant trees in my name than wage wars in my name after seeing this amazing specimen.

Here are some other views of the gardens.