October 30, Tuesday

October 30, Tuesday

I was awake early this morning and tried to go on-line to see if I could purchase tickets for the Trans-Alpine train ride.  No luck, so I will use today to run some errands.   I got a late start once again but walked back downtown, trying to locate the Hertz rent-a-car office which is supposed to be on Litchfield Street.   I again ran into road blocks and had to double back quite a few times.  It would really help if they posted maps of the downtown core showing the closed off streets.  I walked all the way down to St. Asaph Street, one below Litchfield, and then had to walk all the way to Durham Street before being able to go back up.  So many businesses have closed.  I got to the area where Hertz should have been, according to the internet information, but was not able to find it.  The Budget office was closed and many other closed shops did not indicate which businesses had been located there.  I did spot Omega Car Rental company across the street and decided to go get some rates from them instead of having to go to the airport to rent a car.  Turns out their rates were better than Hertz, so I rented a car from them and reserved one for the north island as well.  They coordinated the entire thing for me, including the times for the ferry crossing.

I was going to arrange to pick up the car in two days, but then changed my mind and decided it would be easier to take it now and save some time.  

From there I decided to drive to the railway station to book my ticket for the Trans-Alpine Train.  The station was clearly indicated on my tourist map and although I drove down the street where the station was supposed to be, there was no sign of it at all.  Go to plan B:  I will have to go back to the museum and purchase a ticket from the tourist information centre.

I then drove out to the Westfield Mall to purchase a new chip for the cell phone I had purchased in Australia.   Still with Vodafone, but I found out that the NZ chip did not work in the cell phone.  ! !   What ! !    I had specifically indicated to the guy in the store in Glenelg when I purchased the cell phone that I would be travelling to NZ after Australia and he had assured me that it would not be a problem.    So, I had to purchase a new cell phone!   Oh well…..   The girl at this shop was extremely nice and programmed the entire phone for me, as well as adding the $ minutes so that I would not have to do it myself.  

I returned to the downtown area and made my way to the museum.  I was able to park in a lot across the road and when I crossed the street I found out that the Tourist Information Office was actually at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens.   I bought my ticket for the next day’s Trans Alpine Train excursion, and since I had to pay a minimum one hour for the parking I decided to walk through the Botanical Gardens rather than go into the museum.

 Near the entrance to the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch

 The fountain

Punting on the Avon River

 It runs right through the gardens

 The rhododendrons are in bloom

Heritage roses, pure perfection

 The pathways are a riot of colours

Close up on the rhododendrons

 The pond near the rock garden

 And here are these beautiful flowers again.  I've seen them a lot on my travels and I love them each time I see them.

 And there are a few magnolia flowers on the trees

Amazingly blue colour on this flower that looks like it’s from the poppy family. No tag!

Then I walked through the forest section of the Botanic Gardens

Majestic trees. This one could have doubled on the Harry Potter movie set 

 And a knotty tree, there is even a doughnut hole in it.

Beautiful shady trees with branches trailing almost to the ground

The Glass House is closed because of earthquake damage

Glorious roses in the formal gardens

 Giant Sequoias (Redwoods)

Beautiful park. So many people who work nearby simply come into the gardens to eat their lunch here among the flowers and the quiet.

 Found a brochure at the Information Centre that had a map of the closed off streets

So nice to have the car and not have to walk back to the motel. I used the main roads to drive back around the downtown core and easily reached the motel. Across the bottom on Moorhouse and then up on Fitzgerald all the way up to Bealey. 

Even though it was still only mid-afternoon, I was tired and my back was still acting up.

I did manage to do a load of laundry however. I ended up giving my Australian cell phone to the motel manager, who had mentioned that they fly over about twice a year and it costs them a fortune to use their own cell phone while they are there.


Nice sunset from the balcony of the motel.