Why Christchurch?
Christchurch, New Zealand is a beautiful place and I love it because I spent time there as an exchange student in high school. I was there in the summer of 1987 and I would love to go back with my family.
In February 2009, I had an opportunity to return to New Zealand to speak and present at an educational conference. I shared a variety of blog posts about my experiences that month, as well as some videos like this one captured when our flight landed in Rotorua, New Zealand, on the North Island.
Church of the Good Shepherd
Mount Cook ("Aoraki" in Maori) is the tallest mountain in New Zealand and is on the south island. The Church of the Good Shepherd is a favorite destination of tourists in the area, and was built in 1935.
Lots of Sheep!
New Zealand is known for many things, including the large number of sheep who live there.
"The population of sheep in New Zealand, as significant as it is now, used to be much higher. For example, in 1982 (a time that New Zealanders sometimes refer to as “peak sheep”), there were more than 70 million sheep in the country. As recently as the year 2000 there were 40 million sheep in New Zealand. At last count (as of January of 2019) there were 27.4 million sheep in New Zealand."
“How Many Sheep Are in New Zealand (Here’s the Data).” RaisingSheep.Net, 24 Feb. 2021, https://www.raisingsheep.net/how-many-sheep-are-in-new-zealand.
Sheep Dogs
Sheepdogs in New Zealand are super important to farmers! These clever dogs, like Border Collies, help control huge groups of sheep. New Zealand has lots of hills and open land, and it would be very hard for one person to move all the sheep by themselves. The dogs run around, bark, and nip at the sheep's heels to get them to go where the farmer wants. This makes farming much easier and faster. Without their trusty sheepdogs, ranchers in New Zealand wouldn't be able to do their jobs as well!
Mitre Peak
Mitre Peak (Māori: Rahotu) is a mountain in the South Island of New Zealand; it is located on the shore of Milford Sound, which is located south of Christchurch. I have only seen photos of Mitre Peak, it is not a location I have visited personally. (Yet!)
This is a photo of Shirley Lindroos and I. Shirley was my AFS "host mom" in the summer of 1987 when I was an exchange student in New Zealand. After our conference in Rotorua, I traveled down to Christchurch and Geraldine on the South Island, where Shirley lived. Shirley now lives in Christchurch.
The International Antarctic Center
Christchurch is one of five cities in the world known as a ‘gateway to Antarctica.’ This is far more than an empty title. The garden city acts as a conduit to the icy continent, sharing and championing Antarctic geography, history and culture.
When I was in Christchurch we visited the International Antarctic Center.
“About Us.” International Antarctic Centre, https://www.iceberg.co.nz/about-us/. Accessed 26 June 2025.
I love fish and chips! This is a photo I took in Christchurch of a fish and chips food truck.
I wish we could purchase both fish and chips and meat pies here in the United States as easily as you can in New Zealand.
This is a photo of me in February 2009 near Erewhon Sheep Station on the South Island of New Zealand.
The small mountain behind me was used in the filming of "Lord of the Rings," and a set was built on top as "The Golden Hall of King Theoden," the leader of Rohan.
I shared hundreds of photos from that trip to New Zealand in this "collection" of albums on Flickr.
Credits:
Created with images by tatomm - "Sheep in New Zealand" • FiledIMAGE - "Christchurch Botanic Gardens in New Zealand" • FiledIMAGE - "Church of the Good Shepherd Sunrise" • boyloso - "Sheep farming in south island of New Zealand." • Jakob - "White dog among white sheep." • InfiniteFlow - "Milford Sound in New Zealand"