A muse on the Muse.

[drron29]

Another presentation from Chef David.This time UK pub food.First shepherd's pie.

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[drron29]

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Looks really good.

 

[drron29]

The fish then chips go into the oil and the Cornish pasties are assembled.

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And the finished products-look delicious.

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[Stumblefoot]

On 2/20/2019 at 12:53 PM, drron29 said:

 

And our chariot.They had obviously run out of cars so we got someones own car.Near new,only 84000Km on the clock-so nearly 2000 times around the island.

😂😂😄

 

[drron29]

So now we are really arriving in Lyttelton.Dunedinwas actualy Port Chalmers.My CRAFT disease is catching up with me.The Muse can dock at the port.Larger cruise ships have to anchor on the other side of the peninsla,tender in to a small village with a 90 minute bus trip into Christchurch.Small is beautiful.

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We were told this large trawler fishes Antarctic waters .

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Some larger birds.A pacific gull and a southern skua.

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The Muse gets some attention..

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[drron29]

 

We just got the ship's shuttle into Christchurch.Through the tunnel which I imagine would have been scary when one of the larger shocks was happening.We walked to the Botanic Gardens first.Signs of autumn already.

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A private school borders the Gardens.The oldest Independent school in NZ.

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The tourist tram rattles past.

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The gardens.

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[drron29]

So into the gardens.

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Now I loved the large treeslike the monkey puzzle tree and the giant sequoias.

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But rojaan loved a smaller tree with a typical kiwi name-pohutukawa.This one was flowering fairly late.

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But I was off looking at more beautiful big trees.

[drron29]

 

Medicinal flowers-echinacea.Not recommended for those with tachycardias.

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But I was drawn back to the sequoias.

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Then rojaan found a maple and hydrangea grove.So I sat down for a while

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[Tothesunset]

Just to say thanks for your wonderful travelogue which cheers me up each morning! 

[wripro]

I don't care what sights there are to see there's nothing like a photo of beautiful flowers to make one's day!

[TLCOhio]

3 minutes ago, wripro said:

I don't care what sights there are to see there's nothing like a photo of beautiful flowers to make one's day!

 

YES!!  Appreciate these continued wonderful visuals and detailed follow-ups by Dr. Ron. Glad that you were able to visit Christchurch.  In early 2014 when we visited New Zealand's South Island, things in this town were still very challenged from their earthquakes.  How is their recovery and re-building progressing?  

 

Keep 'em coming!!  Lots of fun (and cheaper) to follow along with your posts. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Sydney to NZ/Auckland Adventure, live/blog 2014 sampling for "down under” wonders. Exciting visuals with key highlights.  On page 15, post #571, see a complete index for all of the pictures, postings.  Now at 218,602 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

[drron29]

I willl be commenting on the earthquake situation in Christchurch.We were there in 2010 and one of the bigger aftershocks occurred as we arrived so we didn't stay as planned.

But for now I will try and keep wripro happy with a lot more flowers.

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These are actually small crab apples.

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The reason for these pics is that I gained some good karma here.A duck was under the tree trying to eat a fallen fruit.It just couldn't get it's bill around it.I walked over and the duck obviously thought I was trustworthy only taking one step back.I stood on the fruit flattening it.The duck rushed back and was easily able to break the fruit up and enjoy it's meal.I did get the impression that I was supposed to hang around and repeat my good deed.
Then to the conservatories.Wonderful colour.

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[drron29]

Cacti and carnivores.

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Orchids from small to large.

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And bromeliads.

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[jpalbny]

Ron, you are a good soul. Fattening that duck up for my next meal... 😉

 

We visited Christchurch before the earthquake. Got to climb the tower in the cathedral. I guess that is still structurally unsound and not accessible? 

[drron29]

Definitely JP.The tower is no more.Pictures later.

[bebop bonnie]

 We will be on the Muse for the first time this spring, Hong Kong to Tokyo....so I really appreciate all your posts.  Your photography is brilliant....and the food photos are mouth watering!  Thank you!!

[drron29]

Next is the rose garden.Coming to the end of the display

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[drron29]

Then dahlias.

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A little disappointing was the New Zealand section.

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[drron29]

Next was the Japanese garden.We were lucky with a bright sunny day enhancing the reflections.

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Then there were the ducks.

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[drron29]

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Then another water feature.

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And a touch of Scotland.

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This little fellow was at least twice the size of the sparrows with a speckled chest and ran everywhere.? a young quail.

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[drron29]

The Peace bell.

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Naturally drron couldn't help making music.

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The last flowers.

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We now walked back to the City centre. We walked down Cashel street to the CBD.It looks like no pre 2010 buildings here.Probably appropriate that you go over the Bridge of Remembrance as part of the walk down this street.

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[drron29]

You soon come to reminders of the earthquake.

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The you come to the cathedral.

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After the initial quake the church was advised to put steel reinforcing at the front of the cathedral to stop further damage.However in the most severe aftershock that reinforcing exacerbated the damage basically removing mos of the front of the cathedral.The church is apparently going to rebuild with a cost of $NZ 1 billion+.
The good folk who live on the Canterbury Plains are upset that the Irrigation plan that was in force has been abolished and the Government is doing what it wants with no input from ordinary citizens.

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Sometimes I think gulls know exactly what they are doing.

 

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[drron29]

This is a building etched into rojaan's memory.

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In late December 2010 we were booked into the Novotel to stay.As we arrived a large aftershock struck.We decided not to stay.You couldn't drive into the CBD so I parked across the river and rojaan walked to the Novotel to cancel our reservation.She was walking past this building basically where the steel supports are.A large chunk of masonry landed by her feet.
Took me a while to realise this was a sculpture.

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This building is still empty.

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There is so much of Christchurch that needs to be repaired or rebuilt still.The scars will be visible for some time.

We now walked back to the shuttle stop.A little bit of Australia there.

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Back to the ship

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All that walking had made us tired so lunch in our suite.I had a spicy corn fritter and then the SS best hot dog.

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Rojaan had a pizza.

[drron29]

After lunch and a good lie down we walked the decks.The lookout from the top of the Christchurch gondola is easily seen.

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The trawler hasn't gone anywhere.

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A lot of timber is exported from New Zealand.Here it is loaded from trucks.

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A train went past.

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But it had containers for the nearby container wharf.

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[drron29]

The petroleum wharf.

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Possibly the new wharf for larger cruise ships.

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Lyttelton town.

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Not sure if a new build or damage.road crews were working on the road above.

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A tug boat owner with an English sense of humour.

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