Christchurch

As I rolled off the plane and into my hotel in Christchurch I resisted the temptation to take a nap, which wasn’t hard. It was a beautiful sunny day and after that trip I was so happy to have fresh are and more than 1 square foot to move about in! I was lucky to be staying on Cathedral Square in the heart of Christchurch and because it was a Sunday local artisans would be setting up for a craft fair. Unbeknownst to me there would be another treat later in the day.



I walked across the square, over the River Avon (above) which meanders through town, and on to the craft fair. The basics were the same—food, jewelry, wood, and woven—but the execution and materials were unique. I came home with a scarf knitted from possum yarn. For Christmas my brother got a salad tossing set made from Rimu, an ancient New Zealand hardwood tree.

On my way back to the hotel while soaking up the warm sun I started noticing a crowd. Then I started noticing Christmas decorations lining the streets. I finally saw what the crowd was gathered for—The Santa parade!! It’s been years since I’ve been to the Christmas parade and this was one of the best and most unique parades I’ve ever been to. There were no school groups or beauty pageant winners, but plenty of community groups, bands, and dancers. My favorite was a group of men in kilts all belting out Christmas songs on their bagpipes.

I watched for an hour and still didn’t see Santa, but here are some of the groups I jotted down:
Rock bands (teenagers and adults) playing in semi trailers with their sides down
Ballet and Salsa dancers, also in semis (below)



A Chinese Christian rock band
An accordion orchestra
A Lego float
Bob the Builder
A Japanese association with everyone in traditional costumes
The Russian Cultural Trust
A group of old fashioned bicycle enthusiasts many riding bikes that have 3-4 foot tall front tires
Trick BMX riders
A man in a Kiwi bird costume

It was quite a lucky start to the amazing trip that was to follow.