Christchurch (9/29/11)

 This is day 3 in New Zealand and I am flying from Auckland to Christchurch.  Most of these pictures are taken from the plane so I apologize for the quality.  So this photo to the left is of the North Island, north of Auckland.

 This photo is also north of Auckland probably right around Kaipara Harbor.

 More of the same, the plane took off going north then flipped around to head south to Christchurch.

 Now the plane is heading south and this photo is along the east coast of the North Island.

 I am now over the Tasman Sea and since it was a beautiful day again I thought I would take a picture of just the ocean and clouds.

This is the very northern tip of the South Island. The tail sticking out is Farewell Spit and beyond that is Golden Bay.

 Here is closer look at Farewell Spit.

 The bay to the right of the land is Golden Bay and the lush green land is Abel Tasman National Park.  This coast line is home to some of the most beautiful beaches so hopefully I will get to come up here and explore them firsthand.

 The mountain range or Southern Alps still has a good bit of snow on it.  This is even easier to see in the next photo.

 Once I got over the Southern Alps into the prairie lands it was really cloudy so I don't have any photos of Christchurch from the air.

 The next few pictures are of my room.  I have a closet, twin bed, dresser, a shelf and a desk.  All provided for me so that was really convenient. 

 Here is my bed, nice purple sheets to go with the purple curtains.  A maid comes twice a week to clean the common area of the house and to do laundry (sheets and towels only).  So the place is run more like a hostel than a flat but it is still really nice.

 This is the desk and shelf unit, small but gets the job done.

 The last few pictures are of the University of Canterbury where I will be conducting my research for 3 months.  The campus is pretty big so on my walk to the Civil Department I took a few pictures of the campus.

So that is all the pictures for now.  I start work on Monday, so I will be getting busier I am sure, but hopefully I can find some time to do some side trips on the weekends.  When that happens I will update this blog further and show all of you more pictures!