A Day in Christchurch

Today we spent our day exploring Christchurch. In the morning we went to see Pecking Order- a New Zealand comedy and documentary that explores Christchurch's Poultry, Bantam, and Pigeon Club and their quests for "Best Bird" at the 2015 National Poultry Show. Everyone enjoyed the movie, finding it to be funny and unique. Afterwards, we shopped in the cute boutiques of the shopping mall next to the theater.

The advertisement for Pecking Order, the movie that we watched.

A few from our group relax at a table in the shopping mall - The Tannery is a restored Tannery from the 1800s

In the afternoon we visited the Christchurch Botanical Gardens and the Canterbury Museum. Our main focus was the New Zealand Icon Garden, which contains native plants of the country. Dr. Colin Meurk acted as our guide, identifying and describing the various plants. The Canterbury Museum had many fascinating exhibits including ones on antarctic exploration, the history of the moa, and traditional Japanese tattooing. We all found the exhibits interesting and only wished we had more time to visit. We also had a quick visit to a really cool park/playground in Christchurch, where we all had a blast.

Our class gathered to listen to Dr. Colin Meurk speak while standing in front of a giant sequoia.

The sign for the New Zealand Icon Garden which contains native plants of the country.

A group photo in the gardens

A sunset shot of the Margarey Mahy Playground that we visited

Artwork in the park that we visited.

For dinner we ate at Smash Palace, a burger joint, while attending the Tuesday Club. The Tuesday Club is an event every Tuesday night where local politicians and citizens get together to discuss environmental policy and problems in Canterbury. Dr. Hostetler gave an engaging presentation about environmental protection and restoration in the face of opposition. The audience was engrossed in the topic and had endless questions for Dr. Hostetler.

Dr. Hostetler giving his presentation to the Tuesday Club

- Ali