Arion Farm

We stumbled upon this new attraction a few weeks ago, thanks to some friends of friends!  Arion Farm Education Park is a small farm park which is great for youngsters who want to get hands on with farm animals.

It's about another kilometre along the road past Orana Park, on Macleans Island Road (so there's no public transport  - you'll need your own car to get there), on the north west outlying area of Christschurch.  Once through the gates, you need to take the right hand fork in the driveway to get to the farm, which is set on an acre or so at the back of a training academy.  There is plenty of car parking down by the farm, but you need to drive slowly and carefully, as there are often animals (not to mention small children!) wandering about.

It is VERY low key, being run mainly by volunteers.  There is a small hut to pay your $5 per person entrance fee (free for babies under about 18 months) but the volunteers are often out and about - they'll see you and come and get your money eventually, so just start taking a look around.

You can also buy cups of feed for $1 each, which is a nice extra to do - the feed is suitable for all the animals, but I found the lambs to be most interested in it!

The nice thing about this farm is that you are welcome to go into any of the enclosures (a great opportunity to teach your kids about the basics of farm life - if a gate is shut, close it again after you) to get up close to the animals.  Basic common sense applies, of course.  I wasn't so keen to let my kids in with the female pig who had just had a litter of gorgeous little piglets, as she wasn't that keen on us getting so close!

There are sheep, cows, llamas, pigs, goats, ponies, and heaps of ducks, turkeys and chickens.  Spring time is the best time to visit, as there are lots of babies to see!

Arion is the perfect low cost option for those who don't want to pay three times the price at Willowbank.  It's obviously not as good, but the ability to touch the animals is great.  I think it's probably best suited to toddlers and those up to about 8 or 9, although my children (aged 9 and 10) enjoyed themselves.  They were a bit bored after about 45 minutes or so though, as they'd seen and done all there was to see and do.

Pony rides (for kids up to about 8 or 9, depending on size) are included in the entrance fee - just ask the volunteers if it's not set up.  Everyone working there seems very friendly and keen to talk about the animals.

The facilities are basic - there are portaloos and a tap for washing your hands (there is also hand sanitiser, which is great).  There are a couple of picnic tables there too.  I've seen groups out there for birthday parties, which actually seems to work quite well for a younger crowd!


The park is open in summer only from 10am til 3pm every day.

For more information, visit their website - Arion Farm Education Park.

The earthquakes

Christchurch was struck by a series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, the worst of which occurred at 12.51pm on Tuesday 22 February 2011.

The city was brought to its knees, with damage to nearly every building in the city.  185 people died in the earthquake, with many thousands injured.

In the immediate days and weeks following the earthquake many households had no water, power, or sewerage.  Many had nowhere to live, as their homes had been so badly damaged that they were now unsafe or unliveable.

In the following months many thousands of homes were declared "red zoned", which basically meant that they were deemed to have such severe land damage that it was not economical to repair.  In effect, whole suburbs are in the process of being wiped off the map and turned into parkland.

The centre of the city was cordoned off by the authorities immediately, as tall buildings had collapsed and many others were at risk of falling down also.  The cordon shrunk slowly, bit by bit, as the buildings were either demolished or made safe.  As I write this, in December 2012, nearly two years later, the inner city cordon is still in place, with large areas of the inner city still inaccessible.  Nearly half of all the inner city buildings have been demolished.  Most businesses had to relocate to the suburbs, which has had a major impact on many people.

Tourism has understandably suffered during all of this turmoil, and a lot of the traditional "things to do" in Christchurch were simply not able to be done for a long time. Locals turned to the simple pleasures of a walk along the beach, or  taking the kids to the park instead.  Community organisations stepped in with family days, which helped make life a little better for many children.

However, nearly two years on, there is now a huge amount to do in Christchurch.  Most of its attractions have reopened and a lot of new ones have also appeared.  There are so many events on that you would struggle to experience them all.  Every weekend my children and I have a huge choice of things to do - shall we go to a school fair, or maybe to a free music event in the gardens?  Or what about the beach?  Or should we enjoy one of the many walks in the Port Hills?  Maybe we'll splash out and go ice skating, or ten pin bowling, or climbing at the Roxx?  Skate boarding, cycling, swimming?  Check out some history at Ferrymead?  Maybe we'll go and boogie down at the Gap Filler's Dance-O-Mat?

I've taken a small break from this blog since the earthquakes but am now back as I realise that there are plenty of things to do in Christchurch and I can't wait to get out there with my kids and friends and experience them all!

Have fun!

Tothills Maze

This is a brand new attraction in Christchurch, so we thought we'd give it a go. We already love the Maize Maze (see here for my review), which we make a point of going to every February or March (best time of year for corn mazes!) so were excited about a new maze in town.

Firstly, there are two mazes at Tothill's. One is a wooden one, the other a corn one - the wooden maze is open year round.

Secondly, you can pay to do just one maze or both of them. We decided to do both.


So, we paid a whopping $57.60 for two adults and two children (it's usually $10 per person per maze, or $16 for both) to do both mazes. Compared to the other maze's $35 family ticket it seemed steep, so I was really hoping it would be worth it!

Short answer: no.

Long answer: The wooden maze is kind of fun - but only took us 15 minutes to conquer. I guess we could have taken our time and read all the interesting facts about New Zealand and Kiwiana along the way, but the kids were really too interesting in winning (we split into two teams to see who could find all four corners and then make it to the centre tower first) to want to take their time and read stuff.

The corn maze lacked a real sense of purpose. We had a list of animals to find, but after finding the second duck and second mouse we started wondering if we were just finding the same animal over again or whether there were multiple stone statues of animals all through the maze. The other maze in town has a much better goal in place (e.g. finding the answers to 10 questions, if I remember rightly) which gives you a sense of purpose. There were also brainteaser puzzles scattered around the maze, which were fun for me, but the others weren't interested in stopping to ponder them, so I gave up after a while and just followed the kids.

And, that was it.

It took us just over an hour to be done. Again, the other maze takes a good hour and a half to two hours, plus has a lot of other free activities as well.


On the positives, the staff were friendly and the place has potential. Their long term aim is to be better than Wanaka's Puzzling World. As I LOVE Puzzling World (we can easily spend a whole day there) I would really like it if Tothill's reaches its goal!

But in the meantime, my suggestions are to drop the prices (to better compete) and give the cornfield maze punters something more defined to search for.


Where: Tothill's is on the corner of Shands Road and Marshs Road, out past Hornby.
When: Open every day but Monday from 10am til 5pm.

For more info visit their website: http://www.tothills.com/

Science Alive!

I have to admit that the first time I went to Science Alive was about a week after it first opened, way back in the early 1990s. I was working in the building next door and so got a freebie. It was okay, but I didn't consider it anything to rave about.

But now, I've got kids and they were begging me to take them to Science Alive. Thinking it would be kind of expensive, I finally gave in and off we went. And WOW! Seriously, it was worth the $37 admission (1 adult, 2 school aged kids) and has got bigger and better! We've now been twice in six months.

Firstly, don't go there unless you've got a minimum of about 2 or 3 hours to spare. The pass is an all-day ticket, so you can come and go as you want all day - this is great if you want to pop out for lunch, or even go and see a movie at the Hoyts cinema next door.

Secondly, it's really aimed at school aged and older kids, but there is actually quite an awesome preschoolers/parents' chill out room (complete with magazines to read) -and thankfully anyone can go in there, as my kids love checking out the real bee hive, the turtle, and other goodies. You do have to pay for your preschoolers, but the price is kept low (and under 2s are free - yay!).

Thirdly, book in for the rock climbing wall - as long as your kids are about four or five or older (I think there's a height limit) then they can do this half hour workshop. Great fun!

Fourth, try to see the daily show that is put on. We've now been to two - one was about the human body, which was slightly boring but at least it was projected onto the inside of an inflatable dome (which was cool!); the second one was about liquid nitrogen, and was absolutely fascinating!

Right, so you're in there, take your time and look around. On the ground floor there is a scary slide, a gyoscope, the rock climbing wall, and the earthquake house (especially fun after Christchurch's recent big shake! For the record, I reckon our 7.1 was somewhere between the "moderate" and "large" on their scale). The preschooler's room is also there, plus heaps of hands on exhibits to play with. I particularly like the giant satellite dishes at either end of the room - stand at one, send your kid to the other, and you can whisper into the dish and hear the other person incredibly clearly.

DON'T FORGET TO GO DOWNSTAIRS!

There are three more awesome rooms down there!

Firstly, have a play on the magic harp.



Then check out the mini golf (in total blackness except for an ultraviolet light and fluoro balls and holes). There are two other rooms with great hands on exhibits and brainteasers. Don't forget to check out the giant kaleidoscope - it's not often you get to see yourself reflected in millions of mirrors!

And my current fave exhibit is the phosphorescent wall - stand in front of the wall, turn on the strobe lights, wait five seconds, then walk away. YOUR SHADOW STAYS ON THE WALL!

The exhibitions change every three to six months, so there is always something new and interesting to see. They also do birthday parties!



Where: In the Hoyts 8 building on Moorhouse Ave (the old railway station) so park around the back in the free carpark.
392 Moorhouse Avenue
Christchurch
Phone 03 365 5199

Cost:

Adults: $15

Kids: $11

And there's actually a whole range of other various prices for unaccompanied kids, parents with preschoolers, family passes, etc etc, so check out their website!

Hours:

10am til 5pm daily.

http://www.sciencealive.co.nz/

Westburn Bike Park

This is one of those hidden secrets - not a lot of Christchurch people seem to know about it. We discovered it quite by accident when friends of ours told us about it.

Westburn Park is an average suburban playground but with a difference - it has a mini road system set up for kids. There are roundabouts, Give Way and Stop signs, a railroad crossing, pedestrian crossings, one way bridges, etc.



The kids LOVE this place. They could happily spend a couple of hours here, mostly riding their bikes around, but also taking turns at being pedestrians on the little footpaths, or just going and playing on the playground equipment.

It's aimed at kids aged up to about 8 years old.



Where: Westburn Terrace in Burnside. It runs between Greers and Grahams Road, on the south side of Memorial Ave. If you prefer, there is an alleyway to the park from Memorial Ave, opposite Burnside High.

Facilities: Toilets, drinking fountain, playground equipment, shady trees to sit under and a couple of park benches.

Travis Wetlands

It was a nice sunny day so we thought we'd take a walk around the Travis Wetlands.

We'd never been before, but had seen a city council brochure so thought it sounded interesting. My seven year old boy is mad about wildlife so was hoping to see something exciting.

The verdict? Yeah, it was okay. A pleasant walk.

It took us (one adult and two kids, aged 6 and 7) about an hour and a half to walk around the whole circuit. They were pretty tired at the end.

We went clockwise from the main carpark, and one of the first things you come to is a viewing hide, which was kind of cool.

We didn't see any particularly exciting birds, but there were plenty of ducks, a few geese, and lots of pukekos (which were pretty good as far as the kids were concerned). Oh yeah, we saw some hawks (harriers?) so that was cool.

Three quarters of the way around there is a tall viewing deck that you climb up to. Again, nothing really to see but lots of flaxes and rushes.

All in all, yeah, it was a pleasant walk and gave us some good exercise. Don't expect to see heaps of amazing wildlife, although you may strike it lucky (as apparently there are up to 55 different types of birds).

Take drink bottles as it can get pretty hot - there's not a lot of shade. The track is fine for pushchairs and wheelchairs.

Where: The corner of Travis Road and Frosts Road, out by QE2. There's a carpark off Frosts Road, up by Beach Road.

Cost: Free.

Website for maps and more info - click here.

Children's theatre

Every school holidays we are lucky in Christchurch to be able to take the kids to the theatre for a reasonably price.

The Court Theatre, The Mill, and The Malthouse all hold regular school holiday performances. Prices are good - usually around $7 or $8 per ticket.

The Court Theatre is in the Arts Centre in town, and the actors are professionals, which usually makes for a great show.

The Mill is in Wise Street, off Lincoln Road in Addington, and the shows are usually of a good standard.

The Malthouse is at the South end of Colombo Street, and the actors are often teenagers doing drama courses, so the quality is a bit more amateur. It's called "cushion theatre", as everyone sits on the floor with a cushion (BYO, although I think some are provided).


The Court Theatre shows are good for kids aged 3 til around 9 years old. The Mill's Playbox is best for the 1 to 5 year olds and the Malthouse is similar. Most of the shows only run for 45 minutes to an hour, so aren't too long for the little ones and their little attention spans!

Check out the theatre's websites for details of current shows and booking details.

Ghost Walk at the Arts Centre

Did you know that Christchurch has its very own Ghost Walk? No? Well, you do now.

For $20 you can join a small group, hosted by "Dr Aloysius Mort", and take in the hidden secrets of the neo-gothic Arts Centre at night.

Being as the Ghost Walk is put on by the Court Theatre, a part of you KNOWS that the ghosts aren't really real, it's all a big show... but ooooh! It's actually really quite creepy, although I think that the suspense and drama of the event is more to blame for us jumping at our own shadows than any real ghosts!

You learn a huge amount of history (true? embellished? I'm not sure) about the Arts Centre and you get to go "behind the scenes" into places that the general public usually don't get to see.

NOT recommended for children - teenagers would probably be fine though. There is a fair amount of walking up and down winding staircases, so it's not so good for people with mobility problems.

Like any show that involves a small group of participants, the type of group you end up with on the night can make or break your experience. On the night I went I was lucky - we had a nice group of around 8 people, and they were all very excitable and squealed loudly at times, which ramped the suspense and excitability levels up for the rest of us. A friend went on a different night - they were in a larger group of about 15 people, with a couple of boorish sceptics who spent the whole time muttering loudly about how this is all made up and wasn't really real. Grrrrr! (Well, why the hell did you waste your $20 and spoil it for the rest of us!?)

For something different, a Ghost Walk is really very cool.


Book at the Court Theatre website, or you can phone them on 963 0870. You can also book through the i-Site Visitor's Centre in Cathedral Square. Tours take about 1 hour 20 mins, and run on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights - 8.01pm in winter, 9.01pm in summer.

Orana Park

So, we went to Orana Park. The kids have been begging me to take them for ages, but I've been resisting, because:

a) I have never thought that it's as good as Willowbank
b) I bought an annual pass for my son last year, but when I gave it to my husband to hand over to the counter on his second visit of the year he reckons they made him buy ANOTHER annual pass for my five year old. So our two visits for him cost $28 instead of $14. Grrrr. (Of course, this may not have been Orana Park's fault, it may have been my husband's fault, but hey. It's clouded my perception. And plus I always meant to get our $14 back but then my husband lost the pass.)

But I digress.

So, off we went - there was myself, my two children (aged six and four) and my friend and her three children (aged six, four and one). As neither of us had annual passes (which are well worth it if you're going to be going twice or more in a year - but BEWARE, the passes are not valid for a 12 month period, only until the following July... so don't buy one in May or June if you're not going to go at least twice in the next couple of months!) we paid up: it's free for preschoolers, $7 for children and $21 for adults. But we got a concession (2 adults and up to 3 kids) for $49.

We started walking. The thing I hate about Orana Park is that it's SO spread out. You walk for literally miles and the kids are exhausted. There is a little tractor thing you can catch every half hour, which in retrospect we should have taken FIRST and then have just walked to the good bits for a closer look afterwards. (We made the mistake of spending two and a half hours of walking around the park first, getting totally exhausted in the process. Then by the time we got back to the main base, intending to take the train thing, it had finished for the day. Cue children's tantrums.) The train/tractor is free.

Yep, only another hour of walking to go!

Meerkats. Otters. Boring adventure playground with quite possibly the worst designed flying fox around (the rope is too short! Kids can't do it by themselves!). Quite possibly the most depressing farmyard in existence. There was a lamb, two calves, and a couple of donkeys. The kids enjoyed patting the lamb.

The aviary was pretty good, actually! I was pleasantly surprised with that.

The monkeys looked suicidal. The tiger was a disappointment.

We then looked at our watches, realised it was nearly time for the giraffe feeding and so skipped the rest of that section (e.g. lions, zebras and stuff) to hottail it back to the giraffes.

Now, I LOVE the giraffe feeding. A highlight, and it makes the entrance fee worthwhile. You get right up and personal with the giraffes and there is plenty of food for everyone to have a go.

Then we moved on to see the rhinos being fed. Again, it was good.

Then the cheetahs, which was also good.

Then we slogged back around the dry dusty dirt road (just like the African savannah! I was trying to convince myself), past the Highland cattle and ostrich, back to the main building, where we discovered that it was already 4.30pm and that the train had finished for the day. (Did I mention the children's tantrum yet? Yes? Good.)

We tried to remember why we'd left it so late in the piece to come to Orana Park - oh yes, that's right, we wanted to give the kids lunch beforehand so to avoid them trying to get us to eat at the cafe. (There is a cafe, in case you're interested). In hindsight, I think it would have been best with children this young to have got there at around 10am and taken plenty of food and drink for a picnic (there are heaps of picnic spots).

So, next time we'll be doing that. Next time we'll also be getting on that damned train FIRST. Next time we'll make sure we co-ordinate our visit to take in the giraffes being fed, and any other feedings we can make (as they are by far the highlights).

I don't know why Orana Park makes me so grumpy as it's not that bad (and I have plenty of friends who absolutely LOVE the place!). I guess it always seems to exhaust me, and the dustiness, the heat (why is it always hot when I go there?), and the walking long distances just to see a single animal in a field makes me cranky. However, it's actually well worth a look, especially at feeding times. Older children are probably more suited to Orana Park than younger children (Willowbank for them!) due to the long distances.


Go to Orana Park's website for more information, including location (i.e. it's a way out of Christchurch, out behind the airport - it takes about 30 minutes to drive from the central city), prices and feeding times.

The Beach in Wintertime

It's winter. It's cold. It's time to hit the beach!

Step One: Check the weather.
Choose a sunny winter's day - one that has a daytime temperature of at least 12 degrees is best! And try to avoid a windy day! Sand in kids' eyes ruins a nice day out.

Step Two: Check the tides.
I read the Press each day so I can look for the tide info there, on the weather page, or you can check out the Metservice website. You want to ideally choose a day where you get there bang on low tide.

Step Three: Go to the beach.
Dress warmly. Take gumboots and jackets. Maybe beanies if it's windy. We prefer South Brighton beach, but any old beach will do.



Step Four: Remember your shovels and spades!
We've got kid sized shovels, they're brilliant. Start digging!

Step Five: Dig.
Once you've dug your "island" and your "moat" sit on it and wait for the tide to come in. It's surprisingly fun!



Step Six: Home time!
After a couple of hours of this it's time to come home. Everyone is muddy and exhausted. An ice-cream on the way home is mandatory.

Have fun!

The Art Gallery

Oh we love the Art Gallery!

There's nothing better on a rainy day than to spend a pleasant hour or two wandering around the various galleries. My kids are aged 6 and 4 and they really love it too.

We usually park in the basement carpark ($1.10 per half hour). We peruse the downstairs exhibits (the temporary exhibits - by the way, the current Daniel Crooks exhibit is AMAZING! Well worth a visit!) before heading upstairs to the more permanent rooms.

There is a gallery set aside especially for kids, with plenty of interactive activities for them. It's great (not to mention educational)!

But even the main galleries are well worth a wander. My kids enjoy taking in all the different types of artworks, trying to decide what the picture is of, or what the artist was thinking when he or she made it.

There's a cafe downstairs if you fancy a snack (although to tell the truth, we avoid it when we have the kids with us as it just seems too fancy and I'm scared they'll break something!). There's also a gift shop which sells all sorts of exciting things (I was very excited to see my favourite painting on a gift card, mine for the very reasonable sum of $3).

Occasionally the gallery has shows and concerts on in the gallery foyer - last week we happened across a fantastic brass band concert, another time we came upon a hiphop dancing show.

And of course, admission is free - fantastic!

Visit the Art Gallery's website for more information on current exhibits and other bits and pieces.

The Art Gallery is in the central city, on Montreal Street, between Worcester and Gloucester Streets (the carpark entrance is off Gloucester Street).

The To-Do list

Here's a To Do list to give you some ideas on what there is to do with your friends and family in Christchurch.

(Click on the highlighted activities for my review).

Updated March 2014


Free Things to Do

• Canterbury Museum
• Barnett Park Cave Walk  - currently closed due to the earthquakes
• The Groynes
• Botanic Gardens Playground
• The public libraries
• The Art Gallery - currently closed due to earthquake repairs, hoped to reopen 2015
• The beach in winter
• Seeing the Christmas lights -in the two weeks leading up to Christmas
• Sumner Beach
• Scarborough Playground
• Taylor's Mistake Beach
• Godley Head
• Bexley Wetlands
• Travis Wetlands
• New Brighton Pier and beach
• South Brighton Park
• Spencer Park
• Riccarton Bush and House - house currently closed due to the earthquakes, but the bush still open
• Halswell Quarry
• Victoria Park
• Sign of the Kiwi - closed due to the earthquakes
• Lyttelton day trip
• Riccarton Market
• Arts Centre Market - closed due to the earthquakes
• Fishing
• Mona Vale
• Mountain biking on the hills
• Westburn Bike Park
• Hettie's Rock Shop
• Kendal School Bike Track
• Rapaki Track
• Little River Cycle Trail
• Birdlings Flat Gemstone Museum
• Spencer Park
• Mountain biking in the forests - Bottle Lake Forest is a favourite
• Washington Way Skate Park
• Be part of the studio audience for What Now
• Air Force World
• Checking out the street art murals around town
• Finding all the Gap Filler installations (lots of them are for kids)
• Art Galleries - including the Art Box
• Playing tennis on the free courts around town
• Enter a sandcastle competition in summer (New Brighton or Waikuku)
• Drive/ferry to Diamond Harbour

Things to do that cost

• Swimming pools - Pioneer, Jellie Park, Graham Condon
• Children's theatre
• Santa's Grotto at the Spreydon Baptist Church - in the two weeks leading up to Christmas
• Antigua Boatsheds - hire a boat
• Quail Island trip
• Fudge Cottage tour
• Rock climbing at Clip n Climb
• Making jewellery at the Bead Shop
• Arion Farm Park
• Gap Filler Dance-o-Mat
• Steam Scene
• Halswell Miniature Trains - each Sunday at Halswell Domain
• Hire boats at the Pegasus Lake
• Hire boats at the Groynes
• The Discovery Centre at the Museum
• The Southern Centre at Pioneer
• The Tram ($10 for adults, free for kids)
• Tour of Christ's College (Tues and Thurs, in summer)
• Antarctic Centre
• Willowbank
• The Maize Maze
• Playing golf
• Orana Park
• Ghost Walk at the Arts Centre - closed indefinitely due to the earthquakes
• Ferrymead Heritage Park
• Go Karting
• The movies
• Ten pin bowling
• Ice skating
• Mini golf
• Adrenalin Forest
• Hot Air Ballooning
• Punting on the Avon
• Boat trips on Lyttelton Harbour
• Day trip to Akaroa
• Day trip to Hanmer Springs
• The Gondola 
• Skiing
• Skydiving
• The Casino
• Wine tasting
• Science Alive - closed due to the earthquakes
• Laser Strike 
• Urban Paintball
• Flight Simulator
• Ko Tane at Willowbank
• Jet boating on the Waimakariri
• Horse trekking
• Archery
• Tranz Scenic train trip
• Waipara Valley wine/train
• Tothill's Maze
• West Melton Observatory
• Sail on the MV Tuhoe at Kaiapoi (occasional sailings)
• Learn to surf at Sumner

Phew! That's all I can think of for now.... I hope you've had some inspiration, and remember, if you want to write your own review of what you've done, please send it in!

Canterbury Museum

It was a cold rainy day so where better to go than to the Museum!

Unfortunately, nearly half of Christchurch and three quarters of all the tourists in town that day had the same idea. The place was heaving!

However, it was great.

I love the museum - it's such an interesting place to visit. The kids and I usually try to go along a couple of times a year, and even though it's usually always the same exhibits, it never gets boring.

We usually park in the Botanic Gardens carpark (free for up to 3 hours, and even if you stay longer there is no-one watching as far as I can see...) and walk through the gardens to the museum (about 5 to 10 minutes).

Once inside we go through the early New Zealand and Maori exhibits - the displays are always excellent!

Then we head through the old Christchurch streetscape, through the transport section, and we zip upstairs to the Egyptology, geology and dinosaur exhibits.

All of these different areas have plenty of hands-on stuff for the kids to enjoy - they get to sit on a horse in the old Christchurch street and go inside an olden-days toy shop. They get to ride in an old carriage and sit on a penny farthing in the transport section. There are magnet headdresses to put onto Egyptian pharoahs and you can touch meteorites and quartz in the geology section.

Then you come to the Discovery room - it is an added extra, especially for kids, and it costs $2 per person (free for under 3s). It is well worth it. (You can also pay an annual membership, about $15 if I remember rightly, which gives you unlimited access for the year).

We easily spend up to an hour in the Discovery Room - there are puzzles, books, magazines, toys, and a myriad of stuffed animals and pinned insects and butterflies to look at. My favourites are the jars upon jars of preserved specimens, including animal foetuses and even a human hand! The kids particularly like the animal figurines and the hands-on activities. We both really like opening up all the many specimen drawers to see what's inside.

My only complaint with the Discovery Room is the computers - they are loaded with The Magic Schoolbus games, but every single time we've tried to use them they seem to go SOOOOO SLOWWWWW. Plus the volume is set very low and we usually end up giving up in frustration after a few minutes.

Continuing on around the museum, there's the bird hall - always interesting. Then there's the boring room of Asian artifacts. Then there's the very interesting Canterbury environment exhibits - I always want to spend ages reading every single panel, but the kids always hurry me along as they're not that keen.

Last but not least is the Antarctic exhibit. Now, having just been to the Antarctic Centre a couple of weeks ago, I have to say that this exhibit is great. Save your money and just visit the museum instead.


Then there's the Museum Cafe. I have got good memories of this cafe - when I was a bored younger mother with two toddlers in a pram we used to come here during the quiet weekdays. The large picture windows give a lovely view of the Botanic Gardens and there were magazines for me to read while sipping my coffee. Plus there was a fantastic kids' play area, complete with baby friendly options also.

Then came this latest visit. Hmmmm.

Admittedly, it was a VERY busy Sunday afternoon. There were only two young women behind the counter, both working flat out, trying to serve the long queue. Unfortunately this meant that the cafe was disgustingly dirty. None of the girls had a chance to come out to clear and wipe tables. Every table was laden with dirty dishes.

I ordered a mocha coffee, which took about 10 minutes to arrive (due to the woman making coffees being snowed under in orders). It was the worst coffee ever. Luke warm, with a huge solid lump of grainy chocolate (inedible) at the bottom which made the last quarter of the cup undrinkable.

We also had a piece of chocolate fudge cake. Seeing as it was obviously made earlier in the day I figured it couldn't go wrong, right? Wrong. Worst fudge cake ever. It was disgusting and had the texture of sawdust.

I could have gone and complained, but those poor girls looked very unhappy to be there anyway. We just quietly left.


So that was my only disappointment, and it was a REAL disappointment after my previously good encounters in this cafe.


But overall, the museum is GREAT.


Cost - FREE!!!! (Donations accepted). $2 per person for the Discovery Room.

Allow - 2 hours minimum, but you could easily spend 3 - 4 hours there.

Location - Rolleston Ave, central Christchurch.

Visit the website for more information!

The Antarctic Centre

I must say in advance that I've always been a bit biased against the Antarctic Centre, ever since the first time I ever went there, in about 1997. I couldn't believe then that I had to pay the HUGE sum of about $12 to get into what I thought was nothing more than a boring museum about snow. Hmmph!

So over the past ten years I've refused to go back. "Overpriced!" I'd mutter. "Boring!" I'd snarl. "Tourist entrapment!" I'd yell.

But finally we decided to go for a visit, mainly because my five year old son had been BEGGING me to take him, so that he could see the penguins (he's a wildlife nut). And the reason that finally broke down my defences was that there was a half price special for locals on. So, I gritted my teeth, bundled the 5 year old boy and the 4 year old girl into the car, and off we went.

My first impressions were AWFUL. As I pulled into the carpark I nearly had a fit when I realised that you now have to "Pay and Display". This is a new thing, it certainly hadn't been there a couple of years ago when I came out here. I was LIVID.

I left the carpark immediately, deciding to park on the street. Well, that was no good, as there were now yellow no-parking lines everywhere. I could possibly have got a free park a few kilometres away if I really wanted to. Muttering murderously I reluctantly returned to the carpark.

I calmed down a bit once I went to put my money into the machine. Firstly, it was only $1 an hour, which wasn't exorbitant (I was fully expecting the centre to be charging something crazy like $4 an hour). Secondly, I only had a $20 note on me, which the machine didn't accept, but a nice woman gave me a couple of dollars and said "Enjoy yourselves!" I know she's not part of the Antarctic Centre's experience, but hey, she made me feel better.

(In hindsight I realise why the Centre has to now charge for carparking - the airport is only a ten minute walk away and I'm sure that they would have been having problems with people parking at the centre for free and then walking to the airport).

We went in and paid our money. The four year old was free (free for under 5s), the five year old cost $10 and I cost $15. Remember, this was half price admission - it would normally have been $50 for us to get in.

We headed straight to the penguin room, as they were being fed. My son was initially disappointed as the penguins were Little Blue Penguins. I guess he had been expecting Emperor Penguins or something! But the penguins were cute, and the viewing rooms gave views both above and below water, from three different angles, so that was cool.

We then went back to the Snow and Ice Room. We put on our warm jackets and overshoes (provided) and went in. It was cold. It was about minus 8 degrees celsius in there. There was an ice slide, that looked rather dangerous to me, but the kids seemed to enjoy it. There was also an igloo thing and a Antarctic tent. Then there was a countdown to the "storm", which built up slowly to a crescendo of wind and temperatures dropping to minus 20. It was a bit scary for my four year old, but it was exciting nonetheless.

Back out again, the rest of the time was spent looking at the static displays. There's heaps to look at, and a LOT of information about Antarctica and Scott Base in particular. My kids weren't into reading up all the scientific information on the display boards so we skimmed most of it and focussed on the visual displays. My son liked the Antarctic aquarium as well, with its non-moving fish and starfish.

The car parking machine had suggested that most people stay at the centre for three hours. I only paid for two hours, as I know my kids. I was right - we left after being in the Centre for an hour and 45 minutes. If you were to read every information panel you could easily be there for three hours.

Our admission was just the basic one. You can also pay more and get a ride on a Hagglund (overland transport truck used in the Antarctic). You can also pay more and actually go inside the penguin enclosure with the keepers. See the website for more information on these.


So, what did I think? Was it worth the price we paid?

Well, it was okay. I paid $25 for the three of us, and I felt it was only slightly overpriced. If I had paid $50 I would have felt ripped off.

I think that if you are REALLY interested in Antarctica and the scientific side of what happens down there, then you'll love it and will find it value for money.

I like the Snow and Ice Room - that's a great idea (except the ice slide) and the storm is good. The penguins are a nice addition.

But in general? Well, let me just say that we won't be visiting again for another ten years (time to save up).



For more info visit the Antarctic Centre's website.

Antarctic Centre - half price for locals in June 08

I've been wanting to go to the Antarctic Centre for ages (mainly because my 5 year old son keeps pestering me about seeing penguins) but the exorbitant (in my opinion, anyway) cost has always made me balk.

BUT! For the month of June 2008 the centre is offering half price admission for local residents, which makes the prospect of a day out much more affordable.

Just take along some proof of your local resident status (power bills with your address, library card, etc) and make the most of the offer. I'll be going along later this month and giving my opinion.

(And just for future reference, the Antarctic Centre's website has a page on it specifically for local special deals - yes, they do have them occasionally!)

Christchurch Activities - an overview

Things to do in and around Christchurch are endless, and the beauty of it is they are all easily accessible from the central city. Many attractions offer bus shuttle services which leave from the Christchurch Visitor Information Centre – could it be any easier?

The city’s major attraction is the Christchurch Gondola, which is located high in the Port Hills, with the awesome views overlooking Christchurch, Banks Peninsula and the massive expanse of the Canterbury Plains. On a crisp, clear winter morning you can take in the impressive spectacle of the mighty Southern Alps as they rise steeply to contrast their snowy white peaks against the lush patterns of the plains.

A great trek for the energetic thrillseekers is to go mountain biking and paragliding from the top of Mount Cavendish. Take a mountain bike trip from the summit and wind your way all the way downhill. From the top of Mt Cavendish you can also go paragliding which will take you soaring in to land on the white sandy Sumner beach. New Zealand is renowned for making tourists more adventurous. If you have no experience paragliding don’t let this hold you back. Tandem paragliding flights offer the best view of Christchurch and it will be an experience you will never forget. Paragliding is safe for all ages and requires absolutely no experience as your instructor will be in full control of your wing - all you have to do is hang in the harness and enjoy the view!

For the less adventurous walking along the rim of the Port Hills or down to the town of Lyttelton which is a little over a half an hour's stroll from the summit and it's all downhill. Or you could simply sit and admire the views whilst dining in the Gondola's cafe or fully licensed restaurant.

Just a short hop from the base of the Christchurch Gondola is the Ferrymead Historical Park. The park is a re-creation of a New Zealand town as it would have existed during the middle of last century. It was at this park that the recently re-established trams in downtown Christchurch were restored to the point where they could once again be used for public use. There is always a lot of restoration work going on at Ferrymead Historical Park and you may be able to catch sight of some of this in the workshops of the park.

Accommodation in Christchurch is plentiful for all tastes and budgets, including a range of hostels, hotels, motels, holiday parks, and lodges.



GUEST POST, submitted by David from http://www.kiwiaccommodation.com/

Barnett Park Cave walk

If you're into walking and you're after a pleasant short walk then Barnett Park might be what you're after.

It's in Redcliffs, on the main road. There's a playground at the start, so you can bribe the kids with Happy Times once they complete the walk.

The walk supposedly takes about an hour and forty minutes, in a round trip.

I've attempted it twice.

The first time was with my husband and two kids, aged 3 and 5. The five year old was fine. The three year old found it tough going and made life a misery for us all.

We managed to make it up two thirds of the track, the goal of the big cave lurking tantalisingly just a short distance away, but no. After more than an hour we had to stop for good and turn back. Damn.



The second time I tried the track I went with a friend. I didn't realise just how uber-fit she was, and just how uber-unfit I was. We set off at a cracking pace, and within two minutes into the uphill leg I was wheezing like an asthmatic. Not good.


We continued, with rest breaks every hundred metres or so for poor old me. Rather embarrassing.


We finally made it up to the cave - what a great cave (wheeeeze!)! What a great view (wheeeze!)! I'm sure that fitter people would have appreciated it more than I did.


The downhill leg was much easier.


We managed to complete the round trip in about an hour, which is still pretty good, but gosh, it was hard.


Watch for sheep poo - it's everywhere. Watch for the little side track about two thirds of the way up - it takes you to a secret (or not so secret, judging by all the rock climbing carabiners on the rock faces) cave, which is quite cool to be in and makes up for those not being quite fit enough to make it to the main cave.

The little side cave.

So there you have it. Barnett Park walk. A pleasant morning out for the fitter ones amongst us, a torturous trek with a nice view at the top for the rest of us.

The Maize Maze

Now this is something different to do in Christchurch.

It's basically a big ol' cornfield, that's been turned into a maze. You pay your money, you get a score card, you then spend a couple of hours going crazy in the maze trying to find all the clues (and so winning a free lollipop!).



We spent three hours at the Maize Maze recently. It was a lovely sunny day (take bottled water!) and it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

The maze this year is carved in the shape of a dragon. Amazing. Do what we didn't do and check out the aerial photo before you head into the maze - it'll make things easier.

Apparently they do a different design each year. Pretty amaizing actually!

I was worried at first, panicking that I would be turning up to some grumpy farmer's back door, and that he'd not accept eftpos, but hey. Turns out there was a proper reception, with cash register, with eftpos facilities, and a wee shop too.

The staff were friendly - while we were waiting for our friends we chatted away to them about the maze. Apparently it takes most people an hour to find all the clues (we took nearly two hours) and the maze only operates from January til the end of April (as, duh, it's a corn field. It's the corn season. They actually harvest the corn at the end of the season and sell it.)

After we finished up the maze and were sucking away on our free lollipops, we spent a happy hour playing with all the other games that were included in the cover charge. There was petanque, several mind games, puzzles, mazes, hoop tosses, all sorts of things. It kept us entertained for more than an hour, so that was good.

My only complaint about the whole afternoon was with my lazy four year old daughter, who MOANED and WHINGED and WHINED after the first half hour. "I'm tired!" "I want to go the toilet!" "I'm sick of walking through this maze! Can we go home now?"

But the other kids with us (aged 4 and 5) were superstars and loved every minute of it, although I suspect that the maze is suited to older kids, or at least younger kids with good fitness and stamina.

"I'm lost!"

The whole thing cost us (1 adult, 2 children, aged 4 and 5) $21.50, but check out the website for up to date prices.

Oh, and they also do something called "Urban Paintball" year round. Dunno what that's like - maybe I'll check it out later in the year (it's extra to the maze).






The Maize Maze (and Urban Paintball)


451 Halswell Junction Road, Halswell, Christchurch

Summertimes

Well, summer in Christchurch is finally crawling to its end, and so does Summertimes.

"What is Summertimes?" I hear you ask. Well, it's just a whole bunch of events, festivals, concerts, yada yada yada, that happen in summer. The Christchurch City Council markets them all together as Summertimes.

Some of the stuff is a bit... *yawn*... boring. But most of it is great.

We have certain events that we go to EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.


One of them is the World Busker's Festival.

Fantastic stuff! Free entertainment! Hilarious antics! Special shows just for the kids, as well as special night-time shows JUST for the adults (heh heh heh...).

Of course, as I said, it's free... but remember that they're buskers - this is what they do for a living. The council pays for their airfares and accommodation (altogether now! Y! M! C! A!) but they have to beg off the audience for their paychecks. (We're a bit stingy in our household but the kids do love to throw a couple of coins in the busker's hat - it's all part of the experience.)

So, the Busking Festival is a must-see. It happens every year in Christchurch in mid-January. Check out the website for more details.


What else? Oh, there's a myriad of other things to do and see. We used to go to the Teddy Bear's Picnic until the year we lost our 2 year old son in the 10,000 strong crowd. It was a tense 25 minutes, I tell you. Teddy bears or not, we've never been again.

The Culture Galore festival at Ray Blank Park is always another must-see in our household, both for the extraordinary array of cultures exhibiting (who knew that so many different nationalities resided in whiter-than-white ol' Christchurch???) and the fact that Ray Blank Park is only a block from Grandma's house. But seriously - the kids had a great time, and when you have a Free Bouncy Castle and Free Face Painting on offer (amongst other Free Stuff), what more could you ask for?


And finally, the other Fave Festival is the Chinese Lantern Festival, held every Chinese New Year in Victoria Square. This year it was a bit of a wash-out, but last year's event was spectacular. One word 0f warning though - hold on to your children's hands VERY TIGHTLY. Better still - carry them. The crowds were so dense that I was seriously worried that we would be crushed or suffocated. (Maybe in this respect the rained out event was better after all.)


These are just a few of the many things on offer in Christchurch during the summer. Take a look at the Summertimes website to check them out.

And if you're just wondering "What's on this week in Christchurch?" then have a squizz at the Be There website. Plenty of things to see and do. You can even get a weekly newsletter emailed to you to let you know what's happening so that you don't miss a thing.

Have fun!

The library!

Some people might think that the thing I'm about to suggest is about as exciting as watching paint dry, and for them that may just be the case. (I'm also surprised that these people can read are reading this at all, but there you have it.)

We LOVE visiting the library. Myself and the kids visit at least weekly. We have a card each, each cardholder is able to take out up to 20 items a time, and so we're usually walking out of the local library each week laden down with 60 books/DVDs/posters/videos in several carrier bags.

If you have preschoolers then the Storytime sessions are a great source of free entertainment for an hour each week. For parents who're bored stiff and know no other parents, they're also a great way to meet new people. (I should know - nearly all of my best friends were collected at the library).

Once a month the Storytime hour is taken over by a Music and Movement hour - again, totally free and great fun for the little ones.

If your little ones are REALLY little ones (i.e. under 2) then there's also Babytimes - these are monthly sessions and even sometimes end with a laid-on morning tea, with the emphasis on the parents getting to know each other.

I *heart* our libraries!


Christchurch has a huge number of libraries, and just about every suburb has easy access to one. Some are in stunning locations - I have spent many a relaxing half hour reading magazines while sitting on the sea-view seats looking out over the Pacific Ocean at the New Brighton Library.

Libraries are no longer all about books - on a rainy day you'll find plenty of people playing computer games, surfing the net, reading magazines, and even playing Playstation games (only in some libraries!). You can borrow movies (kids' ones are free!), posters, CD roms, talking books, puzzles and more.

If you have preschoolers, and are at a loose end, then try to find a Storytime session. Relaxing, easy, back to basics stuff.


Library locations in Christchurch:

Central, Bishopdale, Halswell, Fendalton, Hornby, Linwood, Lyttelton, New Brighton, Papanui, Parklands, Redwood, Shirley, South, Spreydon, Sumner, Upper Riccarton.

For Storytimes session details visit here.