Christchurch and environs

Late spring is such a fantastic time of year, my favourite actually, particularly thanks to my fabulous cherry tree in the middle of the garden.
Only a short walk from home takes me to the beautiful Ilam Gardens, where the azaleas are at at their very best at the end of October. A few weeks before that the rhododendrons are amazing, but sadly both periods of blooms are really short, so you have to time visits perfectly. Two days after I took this photo, half of the flowers had already fallen.

Now I am volunteering  a couple of times a month at The Arts Centre, I get to enjoy the seasonal changes there. It is looking really magnificent with all the recently restored buildings. It is still a work-in-progress, with the next exciting opening to be the boutique hotel and the Observatory.

I always walk through the Botanical Gardens to work so also get to enjoy the seasonal changes there too. This seat has to be one of my favourite places to sit on a warm day!

Events are now well underway, one of my favourite being The Hurunui Garden Festival. This year I visited the  Iron Ridge Quarry near Waipara for the first, and certainly not the last, time. It was stunning. Not only is the limestone backdrop spectacular, but scattered around the quarry are stone sculptures

And amazing works of art made from tins and old cutlery.

This is by far my favourite one, aptly entitled Windswept. It is a short, easy climb to see it close up and to enjoy expansive views over the Waipara Hills and down into the gorge below.

As a person rather keen on quirky toilets, this one has to be my favourite, and must be one of the world's most beautiful.

The garden festival was a great day out, but it was time to leave my fantastic wisteria- clad front porch and Christchurch to head north to a much larger Garden Festival, this time in Taranaki.