Sunday in Christ Church ( works on so many levels, doesn’t it?)

March 29th

We awoke the next morning in time to make the 10:30 Mass at St. Mary’s. The congregation for this Mass reflected the demographic we have seen throughout New Zealand: about 50% European descent, 35% East Asian, and 15% sub-continent Indian. The Mass began as if by a script for “Father Ted.” The lector spoke with a thick accent and placed the wrong sheet of song lyrics on the overhead projector. The choir sang the proper words while the congregation sort of hummed along. After the priest entered he went to the lectern to try to sort the mess out. Several sheets were presented in rapid succession, ending with the 3rd verse to the song. By now the choir was into the 4th verse, so the priest looked up to the choir and moved his hands in a gesture which we took to mean stop. The choir was unstoppable and proceeded without pause to the 5th verse. The priest flashed a “Why me?” looked, dropped his hands, and resigned himself to the situation. When the song came to its merciful conclusion, the priest invited the children to assemble around him for an opening prayer. Three times he started the prayer as children drifted forward slowly. Again he resigned himself to the situation and finished it on the 4th try, as a few children still trying to make their way to the front of church were swept away by the dispersal of the lucky participants. You can’t make this stuff up.
As we walked back to the hotel we noticed a Burmese restaurant holding fast to its territory as the horde of Thai restaurants surrounded it. We resolved to eat dinner there after a visit to the museum and maybe doing some laundry.

On the way to the Museum, we took a wrong turn and ended up on an amusing street. There was an Irish pub, open of course, flanked by “Absolution” on the left (don’t have a clue what kind of establishment it is) and “Dream Cones” on the right. All the vices one could want even on a Sunday, followed by absolution!

And just to be politically correct and open minded, the Druid Center and local Lodge were directly across the street.
The Canterbury Museum advertised its section devoted to Antarctic exploration and that kept Tom quiet and happy for a couple of hours. He was particularly interested in Robert Scott based on his readings, as well as the gadgets and utensils used in the excursions. One thing Patti was interested in was the medical kit sent along.

But mostly, she was a polar widow and found other interesting displays in the Canterbury Museum to explore. These included such things as the reproduction of the tent in which the first surgeon of Christchurch lived and worked with his wife and 8 children for two years before a house could be built, and skeletons of the three species of moa that inhabited New Zealand until about 500 years ago. A relative of the ostrich, emu, rea, and cassuarie, the largest moa topped out at around 8 feet. It is generally accepted that the moa were hunted to extinction by the early Maori settlers.

We strolled briefly in the large botanic garden adjacent to the museum. This garden was created deliberately to foot a planthold from the Mother Country, England. Why else have a Rock and Heather section? It is beautiful and it’s easy to understand why so many were enjoying their strolls under a cloudless autumn sky. Of course, Tom's favorite spot in the park was at the statue of Scott, whom he had just spent hours studying in the museum.
When dinnertime rolled around we walked to the Burmese restaurant Bhandi. It is a small place and was busy, so busy that the hostess said all of the tables were booked for the evening. The one possibility, if we could finish in 45 minutes, was to share a 6-seat table with two women. The hostess checked with them and we were welcomed to sit down. We enjoyed conversation about work, family, and travel over an excellent meal of dishes with names we could barely pronounce, let alone remember. (We thought about Ja and wondered if she had made any of these delectable dishes for the Langs.) We will remember how unexpectedly delightful the evening became thanks to the flexibility and a random act of kindness by two strangers. More adventures tomorrow!