A Heavenly Spectacle in Christchurch

Today we were treated to 2 heavenly spectacles in Christchurch, a wonderful Nor’ Wester sunset and a Lunar Eclipse.

 We were not only able to remember to look at the right time but we also managed to take a few picks to capture the grandeur of the moments.

The Nor’ West wind flow fair wacked us today but it was worse down south towards Ashburton. Still, I had to tie up the trees to stop them being blasted out of shape!

Towards evening we were treated to a 30 minute transitional light display as the setting sun lit up the Christchurch sky.

The lunar eclipse was set for 9pm but no-one could find the moon. Troublesome. But towards 10pm Mr. Moon finally made an appearance and we were treated to our second celestial delicacy of the evening. It’s these small things that life is about!

And just in case you did not see it we decided to point it out to you!

 Tomorrow may be somewhat boring with just a sunrise and sunset.

New Way to Look at Christchurch!

Want to know what central Christchurch looks like at 7am each morning?


Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to find out!

This all started on 4 September, the day of the Canterbury Earthquake(blog). We never lost the electricity here at the motel but when I walked out onto Colombo St. around 5am and looked towards town, there was nothing. The whole central city area was enveloped in darkness. Believe me, that was a strange feeling.


That started my habit of walking out onto Colombo St. each morning, usually when I got the newspapers, and looking towards the central city – can’t explain why, Christchurch has always just been Christchurch. Maybe it was just to make sure Christchurch was still there – especially since the Cathedral is clearly visible from the motel entrance. Maybe the quake has raised people’s awareness of the city they live in.


Now, each morning when I get the newspapers around 7am, I take a quick shot of central Christchurch and a hopefully topical part of the morning paper to share with everyone. So join me and enjoy the best city in the world 7am series.

Himalayas Himalayas Himalayas getting back to normal

Great news for lovers of Indian at it’s Best. Himalayas is preparing for a return to its original site, hoping to be open in a new building around the end of Jan or early Feb.


Getting our favourite Indian back within our 2 minute walk limit – gets a big tick from us!


JD (co-owner) dropped in yesterday with the good news and Aman (co-owner) came to see us today with some new menus and the latest news. According to them, the land under Himalayas Restaurant and the next door Pretty Things dress maker (before that it was a shop selling yesteryear items) is to be cleared and rebuilt. At this stage Himalayas is planning to have a wider street frontage but it’s still to be confirmed. Until then, Himalayas is happily providing takeaways and deliveries (no dine in) from 101 Main North Rd., Papanui. They will happily deliver after 5pm to almost anywhere in Christchurch.


JD and Aman have built up a restaurant with a reputation for good quality Indian food and so we were shattered to loose them from our list of recommended restaurants after the 4 Sept. quake. It was heartbreaking to see the glasses with the yellow serviettes sitting undamaged on the tables amongst the destruction that nature had wrought on us. This typified Christchurch’s disaster with some parts left untouched but others so close to ruins. We were buoyed soon after the quake when a “Reopening Soon” sign was up in the window and we are wrapped to hear that plans are in place for a reopening and getting back to normal. Yes, having great Indian food within 2 minutes walk is one measurement of normal!

 No doubt it’s been a tough 3 months for Aman and JD but they have stuck at it and not given up on their dream to establish a great Indian restaurant in Christchurch. So we say thanks for staying round, for taking the hit but standing tall and proud! Well done guys, your menus will be back in the room compendiums tomorrow and we look forward to getting some great Indian in the next few days!


Need your curry now? Call 377 8935 (deliveries from 5pm till late)

Our photo won!

 

Many thanks to all those who “liked” our entry in the TIA (Tourism Industry Association) Photo Competition.  We won!

Our photo has been selected to be the picture for September in next year’s calendar.  Very timely with the Rugby World Cup starting in that month!

The photo is of mr11 warming up for a game in the mist at Hagley Park one cold winter’s morning.  It was Naomi who was standing in the cold slowly freezing when she took the photo.  Our photo received a total of 57 votes.

So a really big thanks to everyone who supported our photo, our motel and Christchurch & Canterbury.  The biggest thanks goes to the older generation, who battled on to discover just how to “like” our photo (including us!!).  Be proud and happy - you’re now ready for next time and also ready to compete with the younger “click click click Facebook” generation who always give you THAT look when you ask how to do something online.

Anyone want a calendar??

How many friends do we really have?

It’s times like these you find out just how many real friends you have and it looks like we do not have that many.

We kind of knew that we are in the lower level of “friendliness,” meaning that while we don’t have a multitude of friends, we’re not in the single digits either.  49 people like our CentrePoint on Colombo Facebook page, Naomi Peters has 52 friends and Jeff Peters has 21 friends.  On Twitter there are 275 followers of our English account and 100 of our Japanese account.  So yes, we are low level friendly people, we thought.

But we are unsure if we are even that high up the “friendly” scale after seeing the number of votes for our Tourism Industry Assn. photo competition entry.  At time of writing, only 20 people have liked our entry despite our efforts to make our campaign go viral.  We have Tweeted, it’s on Facebook, we ask all our guests to log on and like it and have sent postcards to Aunties and Uncles.  We even asked mr15 to spread the word to his many “friends” but that was voted down – looks like we’re not cool enough (again).

Every year TIA has a photo competition to choose the next year’s calendar’s pics.  We entered one that Naomi took of mr11 warming up for a rugby game in Hagley Park one cold winters morning.  We made the finals, and now the last 12 (1 for each month) are decided by Facebook vote.  Easy, we thought! We’ll just get our multitude of friends to vote for us – but after 4 days we have just 20 likes.

So, what’s the problem here? Are our friends are not that friendly after all? Is the photo just not that likeable? Or are people having trouble with the double “like” process that is necessary to vote on TIA’s Facebook page? (first you have to like the TIA Facebook page and then the photo itself.) Or is our feeble attempt at viral marketing just that – feeble.

Time, and the number of votes will tell just how friendly we are no doubt. Voting closes 25 Nov. so click on this link and vote for your favorite photo - hopefully it will be ours! 

The Day New Zealand came to Christchurch 2

The smallest number in this blog is 1, the biggest is 17.5 million, and there’s lots other great numbers in between.

6 weeks ago it started with a single text message after a 7.1 earthquake and today it ended with 124,000 Cantabs (1/3 of Christchurch’s population) enjoying 9 hours of continuous music from 29 acts and $17.5 million being raised from all over NZ for the disaster relief at the biggest ever concert to be held in New Zealand.


Band Together was a free concert organized by NZ musicians for some light relief for Cantabs after the 4 September quake. Jeff, Naomi and mr 11 went but mr 15 found his own way there and back. Jeff’s Mum handled the motel which was much appreciated.


Jeff headed off at 8.30 to get seat space and relaxed till others arrived. The music started on time and was a who’s who of NZ music. The depth that has developed in NZ music over the last 3 years is quite incredible and it really showed today. The last 2 acts were good but definitely old-school NZ music and Dave Dobbin’s act really struggled to keep pace with the newer talent on display.


124,000 earthquake victims were treated to a wonderful cultural display. The logistics were incredibly well managed, the whole concert it was all done to clockwork using 2 stages side by side. That so many acts could keep time is probably unheard of in the music industry and no doubt due to the event wide alcohol ban – and that appeared to include the singers. In the crowd close to us, yes we did see wine confiscated. Good idea but sober people don’t dance much.


We were also visited by Mayor Bob Parker and Christchurch’s own John Key Prime Minister.


So thanks NZ for coming to Cristchurch for the day, it was good. Tomorrow we get back to getting Christcurch back to what it was.

Ron Mueck Exhibition at Christchurch Art Gallery

I was alone in the room with Wild Man – a magic moment I hope everyone also has the chance to experience, but I doubt it because there will no doubt be a long queue of people lining up to see this true to life exhibition.

I am not one to actively visit exhibitions although the pre-hype and an invite from the Christchurch Art Gallery got me to the preview one day before the opening and I was not disappointed. And after so much destruction around the city, and the venue being the Civil Defence Head Quarters after the 4 Sept. earthquake it’s great to see the Art gallery being an art gallery. The Art Gallery gets a thumbs up from me for organising this exhibition which is only being shown here.

Ron Mueck is an intensely private person said Neil, my guide to about ½ of the exhibition whom had met Ron only days before when he was in Christchurch for the exhibition preparation. Yet, despite his quest for privacy, Mueck allows his inner self to be shared in this exhibition including the sculpture of his deceased father complete with Ron’s own bodily hairs and an in-depth video presentation of how this exhibition came about. This, the lack of physical barriers in the gallery and the raw power of the expressions that Mueck has captured means the visitor is enveloped in the exhibition rather than being a mere viewer.

From the larger than life Pregnant Woman, In Bed and Wild Man to the minute yet intricate Youth, Two Women and Woman with Sticks, Mueck has created a surreal yet intimate world that will make you want to turn away with embarrassment. But don’t, along with expression of raw emotion is also the technical brilliance – these were all made, hair by hair, pimple by pimple by the artist. I recommend walking through the exhibition 3 times to soak up the artistic, emotional and technical aspects of this most wonderful exhibition.

Exhibition at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu - 2 October 2010 to 23 January 2011. Book your Christchurch accommodation at CentrePoint on Colombo Motel.

The Gallery says the graphic material may not be suitable for everyone.