17.11.09 - 18.11.09 Christchurch

Christchurch sits in vast flat plains which lead up to the edge of the Southern Alp mountains. The surrounding roads run in a grid system with miles without any bends. The city itself is centred around the Cathedral Square where the 'old' gothic cathedral dominates and from here it's a quick stroll down to the Avon River which winds it's way alongside Hagley Park and down to the Captain Cook and Queen Victoria statues.

There's punting on the river and the chaps steering the boats are suitably clad in stripy shirts and straw boaters to complete the quintessential English look.

The river with it's humpback bridges and weeping willows is very reminiscent of Cambridge and the traditional Tudor or Gothic houses in the town are treasured and more often than not have been converted to upmarket restaurants. The history of Christchurch and it's founding relates back to the first British settlers in the area wanting to create a little slice of home in their new found colony. At that time the wealthy Brits were very interested in the riches New Zealand had to offer. The sealing gangs and whalers of previous decades had taken full advantage of the vast numbers of marine mammals in the area, eventually dessimating their populations. Seal furs were very much sought after by the aristocracy in Britain and subsequently the whale products of lubricant and oil were desired for the machinery of the industrial revolution, so gangs of convicts, most from the penal colonies in New South Wales, were dumped in New Zealand bays to fend for themselves and come up with the goods. Many were left for years on end, some unable to survive the undeveloped environment or ending up in skirmishes with local Moari. Others were more successful and married into Moari families which led to Moaris becoming involved in the sealing and whaling pursuits and becoming more knowledgable about the foreign world that lay outwith their shores. Previous to these encounters Moari had no reason to believe they weren't the only ones to inhabit the planet. They had descended from the Polynesian explorers who first landed in New Zealand in the 1300s but since then they'd developed their own distinct culture incorporating the natural environment around them into their beliefs. When James Cook first landed the Moaris were already a sophisticated society, farming and living off the land and sea, with their tribal communities living alongside each other, sometimes at peace, sometimes at war. Their core aim in life was the pursuit of mana (pride) and often this would result in grievous deeds if they felt their mana had been threatened. Equally if they themselves had commited a falsehood retribution would have to be claimed. Captain Cook presented himself as a well-meaning adversary and, because he'd equipped himself with an on-board translator in the form of a Polynesian Queen, he was able to avoid misunderstandings which had, in the past, caused fatal consequences to his predecessors. (Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer, had attempted to land in Golden Bay a century earlier, but a misunderstanding offshore when the Moari canoes which had come out to meet him blew their horns, he took it to mean they were going to attack, so he struck first with his cannons. The Moari retaliated and managed to board one of his dinghies, murdering three men and kidnapping one of them back to shore where they killed and ate him.) Needless to say Abel Tasman, although he was the first European to navigate to the lost island of Oceania, left hurriedly and never set foot, leaving the way open for future explorers. So Captain Cook sailed round the island, charting it's geographical landmass, and encountering the native peoples on a much more amiable and respectful front. He is said to have been hailed almost as a god by those Moaris he came into contact with. Unfortunately though, his reports of abundant sea life and other natural resources such as flax and timber led to an influx of less well-meaning businessmen and entrepreneurs keen to reap the rewards of this new rich land. Which takes me back to where I began- Christchurch. Christchurch is clearly anglophied with it's traditional church buildings and the references to English town life such as the old wooden trams, which now solely operate a city tour system, and the punts on the River Avon.

contemporary Moari carving studio

However, references of Moari tribal life continues- we notice one of the major redevelopments in the city centre is being managed by the Ngai Tahu tribe building company, once one of the strongest tribes in the area, still obviously holding some power and the continuing practice of Moari woodcarving as displayed in the local arts and crafts centre. It is interesting to note however, that the South Island of New Zealand may have in fact become French, because only two months before the British arrived on the Banks Peninsula near Christchurch, Jean de Surville, a French explorer, had landed and had only just sailed back to France to claim his victory and collect the ingredients needed to start a new colony, when the British beat him to it and put their flag in first.

a quaint garden in Akaroa

We visit the little town of Akaroa whose French residents, descended from the original French settlers, obviously feel that the town belongs to them as they've named most of the streets starting in Rue, the B+Bs are Maisons and even the public loo at the town's petrol station is a toilette. It's a very quaint little place with wooden chalets surrounded by pretty rose gardens and we're a tad disappointed by the drizzling rain descending on the bay and obscuring our view. So we head out of the peninsula and back through the plains towards the Southern Alps to our campsite at Mount Hutt.