Our next stop was Christchurch, the second largest city in New Zealand.  We caught a shuttle and headed to Catherdral Square.  The square was full of activity and we enjoyed watching performances at the International Buskers Festival, which featured a wide variety of street performers.  We viewed the beautiful Christchurch Cathedral Church, which unfortunately was severely damaged in the 2011 earthquake.  We checked out the wares of the street vendors and Debi bought a nice pair of Ugg boots.

    We continued to explore the area and discovered the peaceful setting of Hagley Park, where guided punts drifted slowly down the Avon River.  We wandered along nice trails in the park and then explored the beautiful gardens of the Botanical Gardens, where we saw a wide variety of plants and trees.  Accessibility was good. We strolled past the beautiful stone buildings of Christ's College, which was founded in 1850.  We finished our visit with a stop at a pub, where we had a traditional British lunch  with beer and  Shepards pie.