Faces of Christchurch

Christchurch, December 26th 2105

The City of Christchurch with Aotearoa stretching above.

South Hagley Park in the morning.

Deep pink, dark pink, light pink, pale pink roses seemed to be struggling for a spot to show off.

St Michael and All Angels, first Anglican church in Christchurch.

Christchurch Art Gallery, the largest art institution in the South Island.

The YHA hostel where I stayed previous winter.

I still can hear it in my mind, birds chirping early morning in front of my window.

Natural alarm clock.

Isaac Theatre Royal

Earthquake was here.

Still rebuilding.

Looking forward to the bright future.

New Regent Street, designed in the Spanish Mission Revival Style.

I'll show you the trams later :D

Quick! The best food trucks in Re:START only lasts for a few hours.

A mixture between ice cream and milk shake with a homemade texture.

Getty Beauty

I know, you know, all photos in this blog are copyrighted.
I know, you know, what copyrighted means.

However!
If you wish to license any, please search for
automidori's photos on Getty Images here.

Samples:

View image | gettyimages.com

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View image | gettyimages.com

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View image | gettyimages.com

... some more others on Getty Images now

and  later,

after summer in NZ :)

Christchurch at a Very Short Glimpse

Christchurch, July 25th 2015

YHA Rolleston House

I had a little more than half an hour to hop on my shuttle to International Antarctic Centre, so I decided to take a couple of shots of the vicinity while the sky was blue.

Rolleston Avenue

Lucky me, the shuttle bus stop was just across my hostel in front of the Canterbury Museum.

Canterbury Museum

Let alone Canterbury Museum, i-Site which was just next to it, offered much to learn about. Well, New Zealand never runs short of that. The i-Site staffs were friendly and eager. I was allowed to leave my suitcase with them while I went for a walk to the botanic garden. Politely I told them that I wanted to enjoy the outdoors.

The botanic garden next to Canterbury Museum

Despite being winter, beds of flower still colored the sides of the path.

Actually I took a picture of this because of its unique feature, tall and yet seemingly not having a trunk. However, I learned that this is a century-old tree, which are only few left in New Zealand.

The Tudor-style Curator's House, built in 1920.

It is now used for dining and education.

Back to Rolleston Ave.

A Walk in Arthur's Pass National Park

Arthur's Pass National Park, July 22nd 2015

The beginning of the track. One out of many in Arthur's Pass.

"Devil's Punchbowl'... eeew, that sounds scary. Then I thought there must be a folktale that brought the name. Too much fantasy :P My next lesson in Arthur's Pass was that "punchbowl" is a geographical term which means a bowl-shaped depression in the land. Of course it's British. But, no tales. And! The devil's punchbowl is also in the USA, Canada, and not quite a surprise, in England.

Devil's Punchbowl Falls

The view of the punchbowl from afar.

Passage to Kiwi Zone

Copying from "Discover Arthur's Pass",

Arthur's Pass village is the only tourism centre in New Zealand within a great spotted kiwi/roroa habitat. You are highly unlikely to see one, but you may hear their calls at night as they often forage in the forest near the village.

Because I had already seen kiwis in their natural habitat in Zealandia, I didn't bother much. However, the notice I read at the visitor centre made me wonder if there are really any kiwis (left). That notice said something like this: "Please let us now, if you hear a kiwi." Frankly speaking, ever since I read a brochure in National Park Village which said, "... thanks to the snow-making machine..." I began to question the (seemingly) great things in this country. Adding to that, I didn't see even one kea in Arthur's Pass. I asked the staff at the visitor centre if I should go to a certain spot. One staff said they are probably behind the cafe. I went there, none. Another staff gave me a rather longer answer which into conclusion would be: "If there are here, there are."

Bealey River, running along Arthur's Pass.

Crossing Bealey River

Two days later, on my way back from Greymouth, except on the mountain tops, Arthur's Pass was clear of snow. I had to call myself lucky, because this day was the once and only time in winter NZ, my Russian snow boots made some significance. The waterproof feature however, protected my feet from mud a couple of times, from seawater once, but never from snow. I couldn't even bury my finger in the snow, you know...

The podocarp forest I mentioned also in "Going to School at Arthur's".

Going to School at Arthur's

Arthur's Pass National Park, July 22nd 2015

Going to "school" at Arthur's Pass National Park

Much to my disappointment, I didn't meet even one kea at Arthur's Pass. So weird, so contradictory to what I have read and heard about Arthur's Pass. However, I learned something which I never thought I would have so much interest in.

Come with me!

My "school desk". Imagine one with a pile of books on top.

You know what, my first thought when I saw these was, "Hey, seaweed! Seaweed on the mountain. Ahahaha." Quoting from T.E.R;R.A.I.N

Dicranoloma, a type of moss.

The moss of the genus: Dicranoloma is reconizedby their glossy narrow falcate tapering leaves forming grass like mats on the floors and trunks of beech/podocarp forest of New Zealand.
There are 10 species recognized in New Zealand and some have to be identified with a microscope as some species are so vaiable.

Podocarp Forest

 "on the floors and trunks of beech/podocarp forest" that's exactly how it was.

What's a podocarp forest? How many layers are they? Visit Kiwi Conservation Club. It's a site for kids who are wild about nature. Not said I, but says the tagline :D

Lobariate Lichen (Pseudocyphellaria homeophylla)

Originally my eyes were drawn by the unique shape and color combinations. It looks like just nothing, and yet beautiful. Then it became my first lesson about lichen. Googling, googling... can you believe it, there's a website dedicated to lichen?

Quoting from the biology section:

Lichens are composite, symbiotic organisms made up from members of as many as three kingdoms.

The dominant partner is a fungus. Fungi are incapable of making their own food. They usually provide for themselves as parasites or decomposers.

"Lichens are fungi that have discovered agriculture"-- lichenologist Trevor Goward.

The lichen fungi (kingdom Fungi) cultivate partners that manufacture food by photosynthesis. Sometimes the partners are algae (kingdom Protista), other times cyanobacteria (kingdom Monera), formerly called blue-green algae. Some enterprising fungi exploit both at once.

.......

Other lichen fungi make spores. These white-rimmed, peach-colored disks of Ochrolechia oregonensis are fruiting bodies (called apothecia), where the fungus produces spores.  

White-rimmed. Did you see it just now?

Menegazzia, another lichen.

At first I thought these were the same as the Lobariate Lichen. No. The green foliose (leaf-like) curls downwards instead of upwards, and the fungi are not white rimmed. After scrolling down the 228 pages of an e-Book: NZ Foliose Lichen Key, I decided these are Menegazzia. To my great satisfaction, the photo example from Wikipedia was also taken at Arthur's Pass. Yeehaa!

Snow Totara (with just a little bit of snow :D)

Moss, lichen, fern, and ice.

My main object was of course that mini stalactite ice, because yay... NZ has become more winter-like for me!

Snow is actually never just ice.

Red rocks, painted by Trentepohlia.

Copying from the information sheet at Arthur's Pass Visitor Centre:

Why stop at painting the town red, when we can paint every rock. It's all done by a family (genus) of algae called Trentepohlia. A filamentous alga with red or orange oil in the cells. The greywacke river rocks of Arthur's Pass National Park are particularly prone to these growths, especially on northern aspects.

A little close up.