My first impressions of Christchurch were formed as soon as got off the plane. In the visitors area of the airpot there was a stack of info for stuff to do on the South Island, so I realised that it was the central tourist hub for peopl;e travelling around that part of the country. It wasn't till I got out of the airport and on the shuttle bus to the hostel that I thought that for a city with a relatively small population (about 360,000) the urban area was extremely spread out. And for a sunny summer day, it was damn cold. I was hoping it would be similar to Melbourne's summer, with 30+ days, but I was sadly disapointed.

I checked into the YHA hostel and was pleased to know that it was only around the corner from the city center, Cathedral Square. There's a tourist tram that goes around the city that looks just like those old rumbling Melbourne trams. So Iwent shopping at a nearby supermarket to get some food for a few days (6-pack of Up & Go and a box of muesli bars for breakfasts, 2-minute noodles for other meals), then walked around the city before it got dark. The parks and gardens around the city were beautiful, though unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to check them out. Christchurch is actually a sister-city of Adelaide, and I found the two cities were quite similar.

I had a quiet night, spent in the hostel watching TV, because I had to be up early the next morning to catch a train.