Read Online TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD: Our Tales of Delights and Disasters by Shelley Row - Free Book Online

exotic, like walking through a scene in Avatar . One section of the park contains a ginger garden. Ginger, as it turns out, blooms in the most delightful ways. Some are odd, spiky flowers and others look like variations on a bird-of-paradise. The unopened blooms are bright and festive, like candy waiting to be licked. The National Orchid Garden is the jewel of the park. Orchids bloomed at every turn – large, small or tiny; yellow, white, pink, purple, orange; solid-colored or speckled. There were masses of blooms tumbling off of rocks and tree branches. But as spectacular as the orchids were, I was captivated by the palm trees. Some of the palm fronds were close to five feet in diameter. They were spectacular! And there was a “cool house” with plants that typically grow in the mountains of the tropics. The most notable were the carnivorous plants like pitcher plants that entice bugs inside only to be absorbed as plant food.
     
    There’s much that we didn’t see of Singapore. As we lifted off on yet another long plane flight, Mike and I watched the lights of this small country grow dim. Yet Singapore will remain a bright light in our memories.

Thursday, February 24, 2011
    What a Difference a Day Makes
    We’re two for two. First Cairo and now Christchurch. We feel like “disasters r us.” We landed in Christchurch, New Zealand after a long flight from Singapore to discover a charming, small city with a British ancestry. Christchurch looked jubilant with mounds of colorful flowers blooming their hearts out – roses, hydrangeas, geraniums, and an array of bedding plants. The city had the feel of a distinguished college campus – similar to Duke University – as people walked and biked past brownstone, Tudor-style buildings of high-pitched roofs, Gothic windows, and intricate spires. In the center of the city, the historic cathedral dominated Cathedral Square. We arrived during the annual flower show. The front of the cathedral was decorated with an archway of flowers, and there was a carpet of flowers down the middle of the nave inside. As we approached Cathedral Square, the carillons in the tall spire chimed their tune filling the air with ringing. The city loves its British roots. (According to our local tour guide, the British settlers arrived over 200 years ago in a “wee” boat.) The Avon River meandered slowly through the center city, its banks draped with green grass and graceful willow trees. The Bard pub held down one corner and The Oxford on the Avon restaurant occupied another. We spent a stunning, blue-sky day walking all over the city – through the historic, Tudor-style Arts Center directly across the street from our hotel, visiting the Canterbury Museum, and strolling along the river for coffee at the historic Antigua Boat Shed.
     
    Our highlight was punting on the Avon. The Avon River is shallow and clear. Punting is accomplished by boarding canoe-like boats that are very shallow. A punter uses a long pole to push the boat along the river. We floated – or punted – under arched bridges with decorative scroll-work railings, under willow branches, and past old brown-stone buildings from the 1800s. Our punter kept up a running commentary which included discussion of the 7.1 earthquake that hit Christchurch last September. It caused substantial damage to many buildings in the city, but, he told us, another “big one” was predicted sometime soon. Prophetic words.
     
    The next morning, Mike and I left for the small coastal village of Akaroa to swim with the dolphins. As we sat in a tiny café having lunch before the boat ride, we felt quivering and heard low rumbling. It’s amazing how quickly thoughts flit through your head. Later Mike and I realized we thought the same things. Our first thought was – are we still on the Orient Express with all this rocking? Next thought: No, this is an earthquake. Next thought: It can’t be that bad or last long. Wrong. Very wrong. For us, the thirty to