On our second day in Christchurch, we used the Christchurch Gondola to climb Heathcote Valley.
The views were absolutely stunning. The Canterbury Plains are flat so it's possible to see all of the way to the Southern Alps without significant obstruction. They are quite far away, of course, but that white line behind me is a range of snow-capped mountains, trust me.
After spending the time filling up our camera flashcards with a stream of almost identical pictures, we started our descent into the valley by foot, towards Lyttelton. We had planned to take the Bridal Path down to Lyttelton and apart from one sign near the start and one right at the end as we entered Lyttelton, we had absolutely no idea if we were going the right way. More Bridal Path signs please.
It was a great walk, although after arriving at the (dead) quiet town of Lyttelton we decided to catch the bus back to Christchurch. Don't give me a hard time, I was hungry. After this, we ate at the Lotus Heart, an interesting vegetarian restaurant run by "students of Sri Chinmoy".