The Christchurch scene

My next stop was Christchurch to see my sons and daughter; it's been 16 months since I visited and it's great to see new buildings rising up. Christchurch residents have an inspiring attitude and they make the most of every opportunity. My visit gave me the chance to look around Rolleston's vast Faringdon subdivision where over 1000 sections will house around 4,500 people by the time it's completed. A lot of thought has gone into the layout and there's plenty of green space and native plantings to complement the wide roads and pedestrian walkways.

My son borrowed a pushbike for me so we could explore Faringdon and Rolleston under pedal power. The Rolleston shopping area was a lot bigger than I thought and a big thumbs up for the hairdresser that gave me an overdue fringe trim and only charged $5 - superb service.

Rolleston is some way from central Christchurch but the planned extension to the motorway should iron out the bottlenecks and make it easy commuting. There's a planned high school and extensions to the Clearview Primary School so new families to the area will be well catered for.

I was on the hunt for an electric chainsaw so we headed off into Christchurch to see the selection that Bunnings and Mitre 10 had. The Bunnings store was huge and I found a neat hanging chair that would be fab for out on my deck...

$429 for this extra-comfortable chair and frame

I can just picture me lazily swinging in the breeze and watching the world go by!

No visit to town is complete without a visit to Luciano Espresso Bar on Moorhouse Ave for a hot chocolate - it's made with real chocolate and it's divine; the coffee must be even better as Luciano has been NZ Barista Champion several times.

Next stop was John Bull Cycles; always good to meet the team and see what's new in treadlies (bikes)...

 

Rather than face the evening traffic we decided to have dinner in town and ended up at a lovely Japanese restaurant in Riccarton called Cookai. I don't recall going to a Japanese restaurant before but with great food, service and atmosphere I'll be wanting to repeat the experience next time I'm off-island.