Lyttleton/Christchurch

On Monday we docked at Lyttleton, which is the port for Christchurch and is on the southern island of New Zealand. What a beautiful place but the sky was overcast and it was raining slightly. We started out on a bus for a very short journey, about five minutes, to the railway station where we boarded the Tranzalpine Express. We were traveling with a couple from England who are at the same table with us for dinner. The train ride was a steady climb up passing first through the city of Christchurch and along the Canterbury plain until we began a steeper climb up into the alps. After we got out of the built up areas the scenery improved greatly. The scenery was spectacular as we traveled along the alpine railway up and up. We passed gorges and mountain streams, crossed over tall bridges and went through several tunnels dug through the mountains. We were served coffee or tea in the morning and then a picnic lunch on board, which was quite good. We stopped at a settlement called Springfield and were given some time to look in at the local railway station and to buy souvenirs, if we we were so inclined. Then we got back on the train and continued our upward journey to a place called Arthur's Pass. There we got off the train and boarded a bus that was to take us back to Christchurch and to the ship.

Our bus driver, Bernard, was very informative and gave us a lot of the history of the area as he drove us over the pass and then down into another valley before turning back to Christchurch. There was a red tree that is native to New Zealand, can't remember the name, and it is in bloom so the whole mountainside was bright red. We took a lot of pictures but the autofocus on the camera had been switched off so all the photos were ruined. The driver explained all about the local flora and fauna and gave us the history of transportation before the railway was built and told us about the people who had built the roadway and maintained it. There were cabins along the highway that originally served as the home of the person who was responsible for maintaining a 20 mile section of roadway, ten miles to either side of his cabin. We think that must have been a lonely job.

After we returned to the Canterbury plane, we were taken to a sheep farm where we were given a demonstration of a sheep dog at work. I thought it was funny that a couple of the sheep were not at all scared of the dog and even came out of the pack and challenged him but they went back into the pack after a short confrontation. Anyway, once the sheep were rounded up the local sheep farmer explained how the sheep were marked and how he chose which sheep were kept for breeding and which ones were sent away to be used for food. Lambs are generally slaughtered at about six months of age. When ewes give birth to twins, usually the twin lambs are kept for breeding and the ewes that give birth to twins are kept for another year. Ewes are usually kept for about five years, after which their teeth are worn down to where they don't graze well so they are sent off to the slaughter houses. Twin lambs are kept for breeding usually with single ones being sent to become lamb chops. Also most of the male lambs become part of the dinner table. We had such a good lecture that we feel qualified to start sheep herding.

After the sheep-dog demonstration, the farmer explained sheep shearing to us and sheared a sheep. He also explained how the wool was separated and how lanolin was extracted from the wool. This, too was interesting. And of course there was the inevitable souvenir shop. We followed this with "tea" in a farm house. It consisted of a good cup of tea and a couple of home made cookies. That was it.

So, we were brought home with a roundabout tour of Christchurch as we headed back to the ship. The city reminded us so much of an English town with a cathedral square, a river running through it where one could go punting or for a boat ride. The landscaping even looked English. We returned back to the ship just in time to sail away.