Christchurch

Day 187 – Kaikoura, New Zealand

I started the day with a leisurely walk to the Art Gallery. In the way, I too a few pictures that struck my fancy -ruined buildings, murals, other strange things…

I think my favorite was a series of stonework on a footpath along the river that reproduced woven mats.

Christchurch – Woven Mat of Welcome

I had a quick walk-through in the Art Gallery. I was interesting in seeing Kiwi art, but some period (Modernism, for example), are not my thing, so I didn’t stay long. I enjoyed a few artworks, some pointillism, and one recent one from a Maori artist that couldn’t be photographed (for copyright reasons). Too bad, I really liked it.

There was also a flying carpet and giant flowers on a wall.

Outside art works include the signpost “You are here” pictured in the header, and also a bull on a piano titled “Chapman’s Homer”. I can’t help but think that it’s a reference to something. (Apparently, the bull’s twin, “A peak in Darien”, is in Paris outside the Musée du Quai Branly.)

Christchurch – Art Gallery – Chapman’s Homer

I brunched at the Gallery’s cafe, served by a waiter who echoed my shaved head multiple ear piercings.

A few further meanderings took my to the Canterbury Museum, with the quirky Paua House: a house filled by previous owners with paua shells, in a display of kiwimania. It’s… special. There is a reproduction of a 19th century street with the shops of the time. And more usual galleries, with furniture, costumes…

After that I went back to the hostel along the river, took my bags and went to my bus stop to take the bus to Kaikoura. The road is windy, the bus is a double-decker, and seating on top always accentuate the movements of the road… a perfect recipe for queasiness.

(I’ve uploaded the picture of Kaikoura but I’m too tired to write the article tonight, so that will wait later. You can still take a look today if you want to.)