Saturday and Sunday, November 2nd and 3rd - Days 53 and 54 - Travel to Christchurch and First Impressions
Opua put on a glorious display for us as we departed early (about 6:30am) Saturday morning. These pictures came from the General Store, where we stopped for a final cappuccino (Deb) and Flat White (Munroe). The drive down to the Auckland airport was uneventful - not much traffic and no hassles. Munroe dropped Deb at the Domestic terminal with the bags and returned the car (unfortunately, leaving his prescription sunglasses in the car).
There were no lounges available to us in the Auckland domestic terminal, so we got lunch in a cafeteria. The flight down to Christchurch was smooth but unfortunately, we didn't get a view of the New Zealand Mount Fuji-like classic volcano which Munroe had seen on our earlier trip to NZ. We got our rental car without incident and, since our requested station wagon wasn't available, we got upgraded to a nice Mitsubishi Outlander full-size SUV. It is big, but quite comfortable.
We had no problem finding our Airbnb - up in the Cashmere hills, a suburban area that rises starkly above the Canterbury plain that is home to the main city. We stopped en route at a grocery store and stocked up to supplement the few materials we brought with us from Opua. 
Our new 'home' in Christchurch is a nice one-bedroom apartment that is located immediately (2 flights) below our hosts' home. It has a small balcony, but one thing we immediately noticed was that it was much cooler in Christchurch than it was on the north island! The strong wind that was blowing made things seem even colder. We had a dinner of lamb leg steaks (what else!) and had an early night.
The wind had died down on Sunday and the sun was shining brightly, so we decided to explore downtown Christchurch. We parked in a parking tower and went next door for a coffee. From there we walked down to the Avon River that flows briskly through Christchurch. On one side of the river is Oxford Terrace - on the other is Cambridge. In fact, the British influence is apparent all over the city, with many streets being named for British authors (Wordsworth, Tennyson, Huxley, etc.). Equally apparent, though, was the residue of the devastation caused by the horrible earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Despite the passage of almost 15 years, many buildings remain either boarded up or cordoned off and undergoing restoration. A great deal of the city center is new building - and that means that outside the river district and the impressive parks, much of Christchurch looks pretty grisly and unattractive.
Along the river we stopped to view the earthquake memorial, in which each name of the 185 casualties of that disaster is memorialized. It is quite sobering. We followed the river, admiring the famous Antigua Boathouses that date from the 1880s and where you can rent a boat or hire a punter to take you down the river.
Crossing the Avon brought us to the absolutely gorgeous botanic garden. This huge park was ablaze with spring flowers and green leaves. We enjoyed strolling around this masterpiece, admiring the huge trees (even some sequoias). So peaceful - and no sign of earthquake damage.
Munroe trying out the Peace Bell
Leaving the park we crossed the street to the Arts Center - located in the original buildings of Canterbury College.
The buildings were modeled on the Oxford (and University of Toronto!) quadrangles, and many had been restored following earthquake damage. Some are still undergoing rehabilitation. We particularly enjoyed a Maori art installation in the old astrological observatory (which is now a nice hotel) and a lovely exhibition honoring Sir Ernest Rutherford, a turn-of-the-20th century physicist. Originally from a farming family in Nelson, Rutherford was a student at the College. After his graduate study at the University of New Zealand, he was employed at McGill in Montreal - and ended his career at Cambridge University. Among his honors was a knighthood and the Nobel Prize. The exhibit was impressively done, and included the 'den' in the basement where a young undergraduate conducted the early experiments in radioactivity that was to propel his career. Also included was a lecture amphitheatre. We were thinking especially of our dear physicist friend Bruce McCombe as we went through this tribute to Rutherford. Today, the University of Canterbury has been relocated to a less central area - presumably to accommodate an increase in scale. The original Canterbury College had about 7 professors and a couple dozen students!
Rutherford's lab under the lecture hall
Deb did a bit of souvenir and gift shopping at the Centre, and then we were ready for some lunch. We found a pub that we had passed earlier on our stroll along the river and both of us ordered the Sunday roast special - Deb had beef and Munroe (of course) had lamb. It was delicious - and it was after 3pm by the time we had finished, so we decided not to cook a large dinner when back at the apartment.
In all, our first impressions of Christchurch were a mixed bag. The river area and surrounding parks are gorgeous, but a great deal of what would have been (we are sure) a beautiful city was demolished. So the overall impression is not that pleasant with large sections being dominated by warehouse-like buildings and some new low-rise apartment towers.