Canterbury Museum

Bridget:

So a couple weeks ago I find myself with the same day off as a couple of my co-workers whom I've never hung out with outside of the restaurant.  After a long night's work, we were relaxing over a beer and decided to actually do something fun and educational on our day off (a Wednesday).  So, plans were made to visit the Canterbury Museum.  Canterbury is the region in which Christchurch sits, among many other cities.  Along with history of the region, the museum features a lot of NZ history, geography, culture, and oddities.  While it may not compare to some of the museums Craig and I visited in Chicago and NY before leaving the States, it was actually nicely done and brought to life a lot of NZ information I didn't know before.  Below are a few of the pics from our visit:

Fine china and vases made in NZ or England.

Uniforms from the early 20th century.

This place actually existed before Fred and Myrtle passed away in 2000 and 2001:

http://www.newzealand.org.nz/fred_and_myrtle.htm

Now the Museum owns the house.

The living room or "lounge" of the Paua House.

Bob trying out the Crypto Bantam Bicycle.

Dan trying out the Antarctic Snowmobile explorer.

There is an entire floor dedicated to the exploration efforts in Antarctica.

A traditional Maori Teko Teko wooden statue.

Bob, Dan, and me hanging out at Dux de Lux (a hip, vegetarian restaurant) after the museum.

One of the cool things about living here is a different kind of diversity than what you might find in the States:  Bob and Dan have both lived in New Zealand all their lives, but Bob is half-Chinese, half British, and Dan is originally from Papua New Guinea.  Both are super-cool.