Day 42 - 11/13/22 - Christchurch & Lyttelton, NZ (Christchurch)

 This morning the Westerdam docked in Lyttelton, New Zealand and we were off the ship as soon as it cleared.  We caught the first free shuttle to town where our friends, Roger and Caroline picked us up and were our personal guides for the day.  We took the back road to Christchurch which followed the twisty coastline and over a high pass where we stopped to see the Canterbury plain on which Christchurch is built.  We attended their church's morning service and afterwards they treated us to a picnic lunch at the Riccarton House and Bush (a protected area that keeps most non-native small animals out), and the local animals in.


Afterwards we drove to and visited the botanical garden and Canterbury Museum (free) where we got to see a Moa bird which is a now extinct.  We saw the Cathedral that was heavily damaged in the 2011 earthquake.  It was covered in plastic wrap and is expected to be under construction for another 20 years.  We also so the temporary Cardboard Cathedral which cost a million dollars to build, the 185 chairs memorial to the 185 people who died in the earthquake, plus a few other sites.


They drove us back to the Lyttelton port area and before they dropped us off, they took us up to a viewpoint overlooking the harbor.  When we got to the information  Centre pickup point, I noticed a sign that said the last shuttle was at 4pm.  We were told on the ship that it was 3:30pm.  We lost a half an hour from our touring opportunities.  Back on board the ship, I ate a bun less cheeseburger with fries and watched the sail away from the Crow's Nest before our church service onboard at 6pm.  


The Captain's departure message included the news that our COVID count had risen to 13 from 3 yesterday.  We now have 11 passengers and 2 crew member in isolation. Indoor masking is now required.  It remains to be seen if we can continue to keep our Covid count low given that we picked up over 1,000 new passengers in Sydney which is the current center of the infection.


The entertainment at 7:30pm was Cantaré (a 4 man vocal group) which we had on the first segment.  They were once again excellent and featured their Timeless set.


Tomorrow we start the first of two days in Wellington,  NZ.  We think we'll go to Zealandia which is a wildlife park and easily accessible by public bus.   

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