Bottle Lake Forest

On Sunday I went mountain biking at Bottle Lake Forest here in Christchurch with the post graduate student association. It was awesome! The trails were fast but the uphills weren't too bad. It definitely renewed my love of mountain biking. If you are wondering where Brad was, he was watching March madness (NBA basketball). So I didn't take many pictures- but I will next time!

Mount Alexander (the small one)

There are two Mt. Alexanders in New Zealand- one is in the southern alps, and one is in the not-quite-as high mountains closer to Christchurch. On Saturday I hiked to the top of the smaller one with the Christchurch tramping club. It was an easier hike than the last one we did. It was foggy at the top- so there wasn't much view from there- but still some nice scenery.
Brad didn't come along- he is auditing a class on Saturdays. It sounds like a pretty good class though- they went up the Christchurch gondola and went to the museum (among other things).

Cricket

Today we learned how to play cricket with the postgraduate student association. I must admit, I didn't even know what cricket was until I came here. Brad was pretty excited to play (he spent 8 hours watching a professional game on TV one day to learn the game- I guess these games can take some time). He was actually quite good at hitting the ball. I wasn't very good at that aspect, but I did make the catch that won the game! Anyways, it was a fun time.

Hagley Park Golf Course

Yesterday we went golfing at Hagley Park. It is a huge park in the middle of the city. Green fees are cheap at most courses compared to home. At Hagley it's $15 ($12 CAD) for 12 holes.

Flippers!

Yesterday was a warm and calm day (27 C) and perfect for the beach. We got some flippers- so the body boarding was much easier, and we're starting to get the hang of it!

Ellerslie International Flower Show

The Avon River in Christchurch

Silver medalist garden

The Fungi Garden

Flower bed- there were only a few of them.

Gold Medal Garden Winner

Today we went to the international flower show which is held annually around this time in Christchurch. It was a disappointment- because there weren't actually very many flowers at all. There were a lot of booths selling stuff (most of which weren't even related to gardening), and there were only about 7 little gardens. A walk down the street we are living on would result in seeing many more varieties and colours of beautiful flowers. At least the fungi garden was really cool! It was put on by the botanical gardens (which we haven't been to yet).

Three Deans and Whites Gorge

Swimming in the gorge.

Hike through gorge (there was no other path).

This tree was actually growing in the rock.

2nd and 3rd Deans in the background.

Scenery from 1st Dean mountain.

Brad hiking up to 1st Dean mountain.

Today we hiked the three Dean Mountains and descended into Whites gorge (with the Christchurch Tramping Club). The scenery was fantastic! We could see the mountains to the west and the ocean to the east, and the gorge was amazing. It was rated an "easy" hike by our trip leader- but it didn't really seem like one. They don't really have a rating system, but this hike had no trail (except a sheep trail in a few spots), and it was almost all quite steep and sketchy. It was worth it for the scenery though. Brad got sun burned pretty bad, especially on his face and one hand. The UV index is always extremely high here because there is a hole in the ozone layer above New Zealand and Australia. (Constant sunscreen application and a hat is obviously crucial- the shirt on the head didn't quite do the trick.) Anyways, we were really impressed with this first hike- just a half an hour away from Christchurch, and I'm pretty excited to see what else awaits.

Big Pines

Today we went to the beach (but it was too windy to bodyboard). We also went to the pine forest by the estuary (1st picture).

Downtown

Yesterday we went downtown. It's a nice downtown, with good-looking achitecture and neat electric trams driving around.