Local Expert
Liz Lewis
Liz is a freelance travel, health, and lifestyle writer. Having lived various places in the world (Hawaii, Crete, California, Germany, and Saudi Arabia), Liz now resides in New Zealand.
But living in…
Liz is a freelance travel, health, and lifestyle writer. Having lived various places in the world (Hawaii, Crete, California, Germany, and Saudi Arabia), Liz now resides in New Zealand.
But living in such a remote location has not stopped Liz from continuing to roam the world (real and cyperspace) in search of new and exciting adventures to experience and document.
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The two week Body Festival is due to arrive in Christchurch later this month, with over 20 events and 60 workshops to keep pretty much everyone amused.
It starts on 26th September with an attempt to break the world record in the largest synchronised dance. This event will be held in Cathedral Square and should be something to see. It's going to be led by the Real Hot Bitches, a 1980's lycra-clad dance troupe, who will be rallying the masses to dance Bon Jovi's 'Shot Through the Heart'. For anyone wanting to take part, there will be tuition and a rehearsal before the record breaking attempt goes live at 7pm.
Other events include speed dancing, a dancer's answer to speed dating, on October 12th at Sol Square in town. Sounds like a win for all the singles out there.
For the less active there will be a series of films on dance at the Christchurch Art Gallery (Oct 1, 4, and 5). And for the more adventerous, the gallery will also have a move-me.com booth where you can make your own dance video - sort of kareoke for dancers.
For more information check out the Body Festival site.
Festival will be running at various venues around Christchurch from 26th September to 12th October 2008.
I was walking along Worchester Boulevard the other day and spied a couple old Red Telephone boxes. I'd walked past them for years without thought, but having recently read an article by The Wizard of Christchurch about ‘The Telephone Wars' they caught my eye.
Very few of the old red telephone boxes still exist. But those that survived only did so through the determination and persistence of the Wizard. Back in 1988, Telecom (the country's only telecommunications service) decided to paint all the traditional red telephone boxes pale blue. There over 500 of them and by the time Telecom had painted 90 of them blue, the Wizard was seeing red and organized a campaign of ‘historic restoration by direct action'.
Targeting the now blue telephone box besides Captain Scott's statue opposite the then Christchurch Visitors Center, the Wizard repainted it red.
Telecom repainted it blue.
The Wizard repainted it red.
And so it went on...until Telecom backed down.
The telephone boxes remained red, but it turned out the Telecom was planning on removing all the boxes by the end of the year and replacing them with modern plastic boxes. So it was a bittersweet victory at best.
But the ‘Telephone Box Wars' have not been forgotten. Sitting alongside the tram stop outside the Christchurch Arts Center is a traditional Red Telephone Box.
Don't believe me ... come see for yourself.
Christchurch is a city made for walking. It's flat, compact, and full of interesting sights and places to visit.
You don't even really need a map. Just start walking. You really cannot get lost as all the central city streets have been laid out in a grid formation.
And if you want a little structure to your walk, there are plenty of options to choose from.
There is the Christchurch City Walking Tours, run by The Christchurch Personal Guiding Service. The walks start from the red and black kiosk in Cathedral Square. The walks happen twice a day in summertime (morning and afternoon) and once daily (afternoon) in the wintertime. It's a great way to get an indepth view of Christchurch, especially if you're on limited time.
The Christchurch City Council has put out a brochure detailing three different walks around Christchurch. Each walk is 45 minutes long and combined create a trip around all the highlights of the central city. This brochure can be downloaded or picked up from the Cathedral Square Visitors Center.
There also a couple of themed walks worth taking.
The Writers Trail brochure provides information and a detailed map for anyone interested in following the trail of notable Christchurch writers.
And the Antarctic Historic Trail walkway covers landmarks relating to Christchurch's relationship with the Antarctic and Captain Scott's expedition.
Happy walking...
There's a small but interesting exhibition on over at the Christchurch Art Gallery. The Travelling Light show has been timed to coincide with the month of Matariki, the Maori New Year, which signals the start of a new season and new growth.
The Traveling Light show is a multimedia display of sky charts, cut-paper stars, black-light paintings, photography, and audio visual that takes as it's focus the journeys undertaken by early Maori using celestial navigation.
Showing until 13th July at the Christchurch Art Gallery, Worchester Blvd
Open seven days a week 10 - 5pm, Weds 10 - 9pm
Reading about a place before you visit lets you discover all the interesting and intriguing things that you might want to see. Once it was confined to books and magazines, but with the internet, a whole new way of doing research has evolved.
You can read other traveler's blogs and journals to get a honest and individual account of a place, you can watch homemade videos highlighting specific locations and places to visit.
And you can listen to podcasts offering tours and suggestions for you to follow.
So here's a few resources to help plan a trip to Christchurch...
Christchurch Travel Blogs
Christchurch Videos
Featuring over 50 places of interest, the 2008 edition of the Christchurch Arts Trail is a must for anyone interested in art and culture around Christchurch. From art galleries and studios to theater and music, the guide provides details on what's available and where.
If you can't get a hold of a copy (free from the Cathedral Square Visitors Center) then head online to their website where you can browse through the gallery listings and download a detailed location map. In fact, you can now download the entire guide.