And on the other side of the same hills lay the city of Christchurch:
Next, we drove through Christchurch to the park where we would be biking. On the way, we discussed the ecology of New Zealand. See, everything grows really well there. Every time some European brings a favorite plant from home, it tends to grow twice as well as it would have in its original habitat and three times as well as any of the native plant life. We kind of knew this because it has resulted in strict importation laws in the country. Every time we got off the ship in New Zealand (and in Australia, for that matter) we were greeted by dogs trained to sniff for any sort of food in our bags. It was all forbidden. They don't want to take any chances.
However, the New Zealanders are not above using the tendency of plants to really take off in their country to their advantage. We learned on our way to biking that a pine tree that would take 60 years in the Northern Hemisphere to reach its fullest height potential takes about 25 years to do the same thing in New Zealand. Therefore, the good people of Christchurch have planted a ton of pine trees on the edge of town to create a recreational park for the citizens. They also cut down the full grown trees and ship them off to other countries, making a lovely profit and replacing them as quickly as they cut them down. Aside from being a good business, the trees provide lovely scenery for a morning bike ride:
The path we took led us through the trees and eventually out to the pacific ocean:
Then we traveled back through the trees and to our waiting bus to return to the ship. After a quick lunch, Zack and I set out to see some of the city. Mostly, what we saw was the market in the city center, and, of course, the church:
Before long, though, it was time to get back on the boat and sail away. Next stop: Middle Earth!
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