On Saturday 31 August, several committee members, led by Felicia Chen took visitors and new residents on a two hour tour of central Christchurch. This came from an idea of hers a couple of months ago, when she felt there was an opportunity to show friendship to new residents, and a way to do it would be to show them around the central city. The committee agreed it was a great idea, so she put the proposal together and advertised it on Facebook.
The committee was very happy with the response; 31 came along, including people from China, Japan and India.
The walking tour began in Cathedral Square then carried on to Turanga (Public Library), New Regent Street (the gorilla seems to now have some new friends!), Margaret Mahy Playground (where the flying fox seems to have been a huge hit and source of great amusement for everyone), then on to Victoria Square.
After that it was down Worcester Boulevard and into the Arts Centre (where the Great Hall drew comments of wonderment at the beauty of it), Bridge of Remembrance, and finished at Riverside Market for lunch; by that time everybody was well and truly ready for some food! At each site, committee members explained to the group the relevance and historical links of the different sites.
The outcome of a very enjoyable afternoon was a lot of fun and laughter. This activity has led to the formation of new friendships, and the intention is to repeat it in the New Year. The fact 31 people came along shows there is a need for this sort of activity. There is no doubt other branches could do the same thing; offering the hand of friendship is a wonderful thing.
