Dec. 26-27/15: Christchurch (Port Hills, Hospital, Princess Margaret, more walks)

Boxing day morning my hosts invited me to join them  and some friends for a hike on the Port Hills, just on the edge of Christchurch.  The city (population about 340,000 by the way) is quite flat, but encircled by hills. The hikes I had done on my last visit were quite tame and I assumed this one would be as well. Not so! The climb was unrelenting, although it took only about half an hour to reach the top. Then it was straight down to the port of Lyttelton. The path  is called the Bridle Path, as that is the route the early European settlers (called pakeha, in Maori) took from Lyttelton, where  they  landed,  to Christchurch, their destination. The others in our little group who have done this hike often were still rather in awe of just how difficult  it must have been back in 1851 to negotiate  this route, which would obviously not have been cleared, carrying all their possessions, including furniture. I was puffing with just a  backpack. We stopped briefly in Lyttelton before heading back the way we’d come.

Views from the top of the Port Hills

In the afternoon I took a walk  through one of the residential areas just north of Hagley Park, not too far from my accommodation. That area too had been affected by the 2011 quake. There were many empty lots and many homes clearly  not occupied and awaiting ..... something. There are still some of the old cottage style homes that I find totally delightful, but those homes that have been rebuilt for the most part have been built in a much more contemporary style. It’s hard to get decent pictures of the homes as most are surrounded by high fences/walls. My hosts tell me that is a privacy , not a security, matter.

One of the little cottages

New construction, complete  with 

privacy fence

Today (Dec. 27), I took the bus to Princess Margaret  Hospital, at the south end of town; I am staying north of the city core. There are a few reasons why I wanted to see this hospital. One, my sister had  a work exchange there over 25 years ago, so I wanted to revisit her past. Also,  the  hospital is just beside the Heathcote River, so it seemed that it might be an excellent  walking  opportunity. And that  it was, as you can see from the pictures.

Princess Margaret Hospital

(this one's for you Pam)

Views along the Heathcote River