We woke up at 6:30 to watch our arrival into Lyttleton, which is located just south of Christchurch. It is a deep sea port that has fishing, coal, lumber and container operations. They also have a spot for cruise ships but it is certainly more industrial than the other ports we have been.
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| Diamond Harbor entrance. |
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| Approaching Lyttleton |
Kelly was off to grab coffee as the ship swung around and tied up for the day. It’s looking quite gray out at this point but the temps are supposed to climb to 18c... I'm thinking pants today!
We have a ship excursion booked to go up to the Christchurch gondola ride to give us views of the city as well as the ship port. Our gathering place was the theater at 9:30 and I am praying we don't end up in a cloud!
There is also a shuttle bus into town for $10 which we will consider once back from the Gondola ride. It's a 25 minute ride each way.
We left the ship and boarded the bus located just off the main pier. Up through the town of Lyttelton, through the tunnel and once on the other side of the mountain, off the bus at the Gondola Station. We were first up the tram and enjoyed the views as we went to the top. The clouds were moving in so we went right to the top to get a look.
There was a geocache at the top but once again no joy after spending 20 minutes searching for it. Arghh! We really wanted to get this one.
We took one more look around and then went inside the lookout for some lunch. Then it was off to the gift shop so Kelly could look around while I joined the queue for the ride down.
At the bottom, we inquired about a ticket into town but the bus driver didn’t sell tickets. You had to return to the ship and grab the $10 shuttle into town. Ok well that's the plan then!
We waited 15 minutes and the bus arrived to return us. It was a short trip back to the ship in Lyttelton so we went to the shuttle lady right away and she said “I don’t know if you have to pay with your sticker?”... "Oh well" she said and handed out free tickets to us. So at 12:30 we were off to town on the "free" shuttle!
We wandered around the CBD and all its shops. Went across the Bridge of Remembrance and along the River Avon. Looks like a huge protest of some sort… we tried to ask one of the participants but she had trouble explaining what was going on. We continued to walk by the Christ Church Cathedral that was badly damaged in the earthquake in 2011 and was under restoration. There were lots of lovely buildings in that area.
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| Bridge of Remembrance with protest starting. |
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| Avon River |
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| Public Trust Office |
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| Kate Shepard Memorial |
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| Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre |
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| Cristchurch Cathedral under repairs - opens in 2027 |
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| Wall Artwork |
Back at the ship at 3:30 for some snacks & wine on the balcony. We showered up and went up to Eden to meet up with Kathy & Mike for drinks. We stopped at Avis & George's room (as it is close to ours now) to invite them along for drinks as well. They said yes but would be along in a bit.
We all eventually gathered in Eden and enjoyed the company and conversation. The two piece band started up but the volume was "Theater Level" so carrying on a pre-dinner conversation was not easy. It's supposed to be background music we thought. Oh well not a deal breaker for us.
We all went to dinner together in Cosmopolitan and continued our conversations over an excellent meal. After that it was a short pit stop by the casino and then to bed.
Dunedin tomorrow... our last port of call before returning to Sydney.
Steps - 11,020
