Saturday 31st March 2007. Christchurch. New Zealand.

This morning we had our last team breakfast at The Boulevard with Joanne, Patty, Tina, Jill and Alex, before we headed off to create DVD's of our photos.

People in New Zealand are so friendly. I am moving hotels today back to the Oaks Smartstay and the two lads from the photo shop help me carry all my luggage across town during their lunch hour.

This afternoon I walked out to Papanui and watched a cricket match at St Andrew's College.

The Papanui Bush of around 70 acres was important to the Maori for its bird life. The name Papanui means 'bird-spearer's tree platform'.

Papanui was the Canterbury settlements first village growing up around the bush that was early Christchurch's nearest source of timber and firewood. The early days were tough and wagons were frequently to be stuck in the boggy Papanui Road. Pit-sawyers had to be employed to cut out the bush by 1857 when Papanui's population had grown to two-thirds the size of Christchurch.

The rich swamp ground was drained and became market gardens, orchards and dairy farms supplying the city with the 5' 3" gauge northern railway reaching Papanui in 1872. Along with the steam tramway's arrival in 1880 suburban growth was encouraged between the city and the village such that Papanui had its own Town Hall (1881-1909) before amalgamation into the City of Christchurch in 1923.

Exploring the Churchyard of St Paul's (which was the first church west of Christchurch built on the plains) I am looking for the grave of Edward Dobson (one of our engineers from yesterday's Otira Tunnel trip).

My hunt proved fruitless but I did find a most interesting grave belonging to Pte 58561 J. Montgomery of the Canterbury Regiment who died exactly one week after the ending of the Great War at just 22 years of age.

I then head back into town to catch one of those very trams that led to the growth of Papanui...or so I think. We are double booked and so I have to postpone until Monday. Instead Alex, Jill and I head over to Little India on New Regent Street (which celebrates its 75th birthday tomorrow) for dinner.