Day 17 – Australia/New Zealand Adventure – Church in Christchurch

(Sunday, March 23, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad

Another hearty hotel breakfast this morning. I will really miss that. I won’t even tell you what I had every morning, but I sure don’t want to have my cholesterol checked for a while.

We had some time to kill before our waka cultural tour on the Avon River, so we walked about 15 minutes to a local Catholic Church, St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, for a solemn Mass. Their choir was excellent. This church was about a quarter of the size of the cathedral we went to in Sydney.  The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, the former cathedral, was probably huge, but it was so badly damaged in the 2011 earthquake that it had to be demolished.

Along the way to the church, Jim took photos of the stunning murals on the sides of buildings. When the buildings were demolished after the devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, many sides of buildings were left exposed, and artists were encouraged to paint murals on them. Here are a some of the murals. Tap or click to enlarge.

We got back to the hotel just in time to head off for our waka cultural tour, and that involved another nice walk through the city to the park and the Avon River. A waka refers to a large canoe that can fit about 12 people who all have to row. Waka does not mean canoe in Māori, though, it means “transportation.”

Three young men of Māori descent met us at the Ko Tane Center. They split the group up in half, and one group went off in the boats while the other listened to an interesting cultural talk about the Maori’s history in the Christchurch area. It was sad to learn how the British people made promises to the Māori and ended up taking their land. A few years ago, many Māori tribes got together, formed a corporation, and protested for more rights and restitution. They now have more of a say in New Zealand government, but they have a ways to go.

Jim and I had planned to partake in the canoe activity, but I realized that I forgot to take my motion-sickness pills. We decided not to do that part of the activity, and some of our fellow travelers said, oh, it’s really smooth. You’ll be okay. They just don’t UNDERSTAND!

After we left the canoe activity, we walked around and had chocolate milkshakes. We learned for the second time on this trip, that extra thick milkshakes are what we would call regular in the USA.

We took a few pictures of buildings that are still damaged from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. 

Back at the hotel again, we took showers and got ready for our farewell dinner with the group. At dinner, Cam made a toast to the group, and one of the guys made a toast to Cam. Everyone was genuinely sad to be parting and many of us exchanged contact information. We hope our paths cross again someday. I was so apprehensive about a group of 46, when we met on the first day of this trip, but I’ve never met a nicer bunch of folks.

After dinner, it was back to our room to finish packing. Our group is heading off in several directions. Some are going to Fiji, which was an add-on to this trip. Some were going to the North Island. Some were going elsewhere, and a few of us were heading HOME! 

We were among the lucky ones in that our airport transport didn’t pick us up until 9:30 a.m., so we enjoyed one more elaborate breakfast. It would be a long travel day, and we were so glad to be home!

Next entry will be a reflection on this awesome experience.

11,576 steps!