New Zealand, Day 1
Wed., Dec 30

Spent a few hours in the morning getting my bearings and making plans
for the week. I still have a bag missing so nothing to do there but
wait. I found a way to call home, but couldn't get a line, so I'll try
tomorrow. I was free from mid-morning on so I borrowed a bike from the
hotel and rode into town.

First stop was the cathedral. The history was overwhelming and my mind
kept trying to make associations with things I knew. In some ways, I
remembered the chapel in Nantucket (?) from Moby Dick because of all
the memorials to sailors. And then since I've read most of the Aubrey-
Maturin books (the film Master and Commander was based on these) I
imagined I was walking where Capt Jack Aubrey might have been in full
dress uniform when in port.

From there lunch at a pub and then exploring the streets of
Christchurch. I found a memorial to the explored Scott who died after
reaching the Pole. The Botanic Gardens were gorgeous - sorry Ronda,
but Lewis Ginter has nothing on Christhurch. I rang a World Peace Bell
and explored the Cantebury Museum which houses an amazing Antarctic
collection as well as an Egytptian mummy, Chinese art, and much more
(being part of an Empire meant artifacts moving around among the
colonies, I guess).

I had dinner at a wine bar in the Arts District and then a cold bike
back to the hotel. A few more 109th-ers arrived yesterday but who I
saw was pretty tired.

Peace,
Jake