christchurch

The strange thing about New Zealand is that I find the smaller towns much nicer than the cities, which is quite strange as I normally detest any place with a population below the million mark. Christchurch is infinitely nicer and than Wellington, however, despite being smaller (and not the capital). It too has a truly stunning and enormous botanical garden, but its centre is more cute and pleasant. I am amazed by the fact that is seems every town, regardless of size, has a massive public garden. This is clearly something that is central to the kiwi way of life. Even so, the botanic garden in Christchurch was over the top. It is the third largest public garden in the world, apparently, after Hyde Park and Central Park. It was filled with incredible plants even my father (who actually knows about these things) could not identify. I climbed some of the trees that were so massive that my father couldn’t get the whole width of the trunk into a photograph. Later, after several hours in the gardens, we moved on to investigate the town, which was pleasant and user friendly. I am reaching the conclusion that the South Island is much prettier than the North, and that, contrary to the seeming logic of geography, it is warmer as well. I am not sure how this is possible, but so far the evidence indicates it is!