March 17, 2026

CHRISTCHURCH, was my favorite city last time I visited New Zealand in 2016, and it didn't disappoint, for a second time! We had a gorgeous day to take in all the sights. Christchurch is on the other side of the volcanic mountains, from the charming port town of Lyttelton, a quick 20 minute uber ride through the tunnel. The area was devasted by an earthquake in 2011 and is still rebuilding, but the progress has been striking since I was last here.

The center of town, where the Cathedral has yet to have its' renovations completed, still shows the most visible signs of the devastation. I am a big fan of the simple "cardboard cathedral" they built in 2013 to replace. A Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed it pro bono, with the local firm of Warren & Mahoney. They used 86 cardboard tubes ( like we use for concrete forms) to create a simple A frame. Shigeru characterized as the disaster architect has done similar projects after Japan's earthquakes.  

There is lots of interesting street art.

We took the electric tram which allow hop on and off around the city. There is a great mix of culture, history, shopping and restaurants.

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My favorite activity was Punting down the Avon River, alongside the Botanical Gardens, in the afternoon sunshine.

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FURONG ANCIENT TOWN, CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 13, 2026
We had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the Zhangjaijie National Forest at 2:30pm, so we could have a much needed break for the 2 hour drive to Furong Ancient Town. That way, we could explore Furong at night, which is the best time to see it, have a bit of a rest and still be in a good position, to see more of the Forest, the next day.

ZHANGJIAJIE - NORTH GATE

By Pat Patrick • September 13, 2026
When we arrived at the Zhangjiajie train station, we had a driver meet us to take us all the way to the little village just outside the North Gate of the Zhangjiajie National Forest, which was about a 2 hour ride.This put us in a great position to get right into the Park early the next morning before the large crowds and access to the top section of the park, in lieu of the more crowded routes, coming in from the base of the mountains from downtown. We stayed at an older resort called Stilt Paradise and the place had a rustic charm as did the whole one street village. It was close to 7:30 pm when we arrived. We went in search of dinner, which commenced a session of pointing at photo's on their billboard and piecing together an order with google translate, to get the basic dumplings and noodles. 

HIGH SPEED TRAIN TRAVEL IN CHINA

By Pat Patrick • September 12, 2026
We did all our travel for this trip in China via high speed railway. We started in Hong Kong and traveled to Guilin in just over 3 hours. Then our longest leg, of 7 hours for Guilin to Zhangjiajie . Next was Zhangjiajie to Chongqing at 3.5 hours and finally Chongqing to Xi'An was around 5.5 hours. Some of the train stations were massive like Chongqing below and Xi'An. Signage was pretty good, with some English, so we could navigate well.