Plant pot

Plant pot

Life by the sea

Christchurch city centre

The wizard

Old settlers home deteriates gracefully

wood chopper

Sunset

Christchurch Smog

The smog in Christchurch is quite an eye opener. It features in the newspaper each week, charted to how bad it is and whether it breeches safe health levels. Whilst we lived there we were appauled at the attitude of most locals taking a head in sand approach, continuing to use wood or coal for heating, belching out noxious fumes into the already thick air. Since there is little wind in the winter, the air only gets cleared every couple of days. The air leaves an acrid feeling in the back of the throat. It is hard to believe this is a city in the 21st century.

Striking scenery and forboding land slides are plenty on New Zealand roads. This feat of engineering on Arthurs Pass, South Island, bypasses a previous road route over a scree slide which used to be lost most winters.

Ice cream heaven

Bridge over the Hurunui river near Hanmer Springs

Fire station

Wide roads

Southern Alps at Arthurs Pass

Hollywood Cinema

Pile of boats

Kiwi Batches often teetering on the edge of the shore line. This fine example of New Zealanders make do and mend mentality was in Taylors Mistake, Christchurch.

The Wizard of Christchurch

Time to relax and enjoy the outdoors. This is Christchurch cathedral, in front of which people are always playing Chess. If you are lucky you might even meet the eccentric wizard, a fascinating and strongly oppinionated english man who is part of Christchurchs culture now. Provaricating about religion and other sensitive issues, he always draws a crowd as he turns up in his double fronted VW Beetle.

Magnificent blue skies, buckets of sunshine encourage the use of bright zingy colours which help define New Zealands appeal. This bank in Akaroa, Banks Peninsula is a brilliant example of new world attitudes and is a stark contrast to the more formal approach of their counterparts in Europe.