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Trip to Christchurch
The first weekend of June is a three-day weekend in New Zealand. We went to a three-day conference in Christchurch on the arts in congregations. On the drive up, we took highway one for the first three hours, then cut over to the inland scenic route, which is much prettier than highway one. What would have been two more hours on highway one turned into two and three quarter hours on the inland scenic route, but it's worht it. Right before the trip we had heavy rains and low temperatures, so the snow level was lower than we had ever seen it.
The inland scenic route crosses the Rakaia River gorge. In the first photo below, you can see the bridge across the river. The second photo shows the view to the left of the bridge, and the third photo shows the braids in the river visible to the right of the bridge. New Zealand is famous for its braided rivers, which are supposedly found only in New Zealand and somewhere in South America.
The conference was held in a Baptist Church in downtown Christchurch, built in 1881. It's right on the Avon River, on a street called Oxford Terrace. The street on the other side of the river is called Cambridge Terrace. After living in Dunedin, with a strong Scottish influence, it's amusing to be in Christchurch, which was settled by English immigrants and who branded their town like the Scots branded Dunedin. Right in front of the church is a little memorial park commemorating September 11. In the fourth picture, you'll see some pieces of metal from the twin towers.
One of the unexpected highlights of the weekend trip was the Christchurch marathon, which was being held on Sunday morning. The course went right by the church, so we had to dodge runners on our way to the conference that morning. It was fun to be part of the energy of the event. We knew two people who were running. A new lecturer in my department, who arrived from Canada in late May, is an experienced marathoner. It was Chris's 24th marathon, and he viewed it as a great way to dive into life in New Zealand. Dave's good friend in Dunedin, Nick, was also running it, his first marathon. Dave met both men at the finish line and really enjoyed being a part of the excitement of the finish. Below are Chris and then Nick right after they finished.
The runners had to deal with steady rain throughout the race. The next morning it cleared, and we saw a rainbow from our motel.
The inland scenic route crosses the Rakaia River gorge. In the first photo below, you can see the bridge across the river. The second photo shows the view to the left of the bridge, and the third photo shows the braids in the river visible to the right of the bridge. New Zealand is famous for its braided rivers, which are supposedly found only in New Zealand and somewhere in South America.
The conference was held in a Baptist Church in downtown Christchurch, built in 1881. It's right on the Avon River, on a street called Oxford Terrace. The street on the other side of the river is called Cambridge Terrace. After living in Dunedin, with a strong Scottish influence, it's amusing to be in Christchurch, which was settled by English immigrants and who branded their town like the Scots branded Dunedin. Right in front of the church is a little memorial park commemorating September 11. In the fourth picture, you'll see some pieces of metal from the twin towers.
One of the unexpected highlights of the weekend trip was the Christchurch marathon, which was being held on Sunday morning. The course went right by the church, so we had to dodge runners on our way to the conference that morning. It was fun to be part of the energy of the event. We knew two people who were running. A new lecturer in my department, who arrived from Canada in late May, is an experienced marathoner. It was Chris's 24th marathon, and he viewed it as a great way to dive into life in New Zealand. Dave's good friend in Dunedin, Nick, was also running it, his first marathon. Dave met both men at the finish line and really enjoyed being a part of the excitement of the finish. Below are Chris and then Nick right after they finished.
The runners had to deal with steady rain throughout the race. The next morning it cleared, and we saw a rainbow from our motel.
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