Zombies

As our New Zealand venture is drawing to a close, we are including some bits and pieces in this blog entry that haven’t fit in elsewhere.

A pre-Halloween zombie dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller was held in Christchurch.     We enjoyed watching the 70 or so dancers practice and then be filmed.

Zombies prior to waking up.

Mail in most of New Zealand was previously delivered by bicycle.  Just within the past two years, most mail is now delivered by motorbike or by small motorized units that drive down sidewalks or streets (and don’t look safe enough to us to be on streets).  We miss seeing the posties on bicycles though. 

Rare sighting of a bicycle postie this year

Cindy volunteered at Willowbank Nature Reserve for the last time on Monday.  She helped weigh the 14 baby kiwi chicks that are at the center to fatten up before they are placed back in the wild.  The chicks are even more adorable than the adults.  Adults are about as big as a chicken.  Willowbank also incubates some kiwi eggs, which have to be carefully turned four times a day. 

Five kiwi chicks huddled in their burrow box

Kiwi egg in incubator

Kiwi have hair-like feathers

Other animals at Willowbank include tuatara, (a reptile from the age of the dinosaurs, found only in New Zealand), kea (an Alpine parrot), and ducklings (part of the farmyard exhibits).

Tuatara

Kea, showing off the bright underside of its wing

Ducklings

Last weekend we watched a bit of the King of the Square skateboard competition and also just wandered around the city center seeing new things.  

The Art Gallery has a new exhibit celebrating the color yellow. 

Little Free Libraries started in Hudson, Wisconsin.  In Christchurch we found a big free library in 3 old refrigerators.  

A memorial wall for the 2011 earthquake victims has recently been completed.  

We were impressed with the Margaret Mahy Playground, a huge play area named after a famous New Zealand children’s book author.  The playground was built in the central city on land where buildings were destroyed in the earthquakes. 

SCAPE Public Art 2017 places a variety of sculptures throughout the city.  One sculpture we especially like is The Glass Pavilion, made from industrial waste materials.   

And to get around the city we either walk or take a bus.  Christchurch has a great coordinated bus system and central transit station built since the earthquakes. 

The bus interchange station

Taken while riding the 28 bus in the Lyttelton tunnel, which is almost 1 1/2 miles long

And the big news:  Cindy had an unfortunate event – she tripped on a gate fitting embedded in a driveway and went crashing into a stone wall – and fractured both wrists.  Her arms and hands aren’t very functional at this point but she was able to type this blog post using two fingers.  Her photo taking is on hold for now, though she has been working on her zombie look for next year’s zombie gathering. 

"I fought the wall, and the wall won"

We hope to see many of you soon back in the states. Bye for now!

Cindy and Paul