It seems that the architecture around church buildings in the South Island of New Zealand is extremely diverse. We have found the buildings generally to be of interest, but thought you would like to see a sort of thematic group - so here are just a few of the churches we happened to see on the South Island.
This one - The church of the Good Shepherd - is in huge demand for weddings - set beside a spectacular lake, it is remote, peaceful and intimate - and of course, limits the number of guests you can invite since it is really small. A little windswept on the day we visited, but even so, still breathtaking views of the mountains and lake.
The Anglican Cathedral, up on the hill in Nelson is fascinating in that it was designed, originally to have the whole soaring spires and buttresses number, however, the money ran out on completion of the first floor and so the resulting 'solution' was what you see here. The design wasmost definitely something 'different' but we were glad to have got inside to see it - and play the beautiful pipe organ which arrived by ship from 'the continent' at enormous expense.
The main focus of Cathedral Square in Christchurch - this beautiful old building has miraculously sidestepped major damage with the recent earthquakes that have hit other, similarly aged buildings in the city. Some of those others have their spires 'taped up' or 'shored up' with scaffolding and the like and are somewhat depressed and frantic looking - this one, still to all intents and purposes, perfect for the tourist photographs which are constantly being taken. The square was the venue for the New Year celebrations this year and is a hub of the city with the i-site for us happy wanderers, the tram 'base stop', a good few souvenir shops, plenty of talented buskers and a Starbucks cafe with tables on the square for watching the world go by while enjoying a coffee over a map or two. 
We had to wait a little while to get this 'lonely' looking photograph - the place was literally overrun by camera-clutching tourists - mostly of the asian persuasion and in groups of never less than it seemed like fifty!
We spied this Catholic church sort of through the sidestreets and round the back of tiny Hokitika - it was a bit of a trudge to get there, but there it stood in all it's splendour - in spite of New Zealand being very 'un-religious', these dramatic church buildings are dotted about all over the place.
Now this one was a little harder to find - we had heard about a really old German settlement outside Nelson and followed the Neudorf road to find it - after getting our lady-in-a-box totally confused (who by the way, speaks fluent Afrikaans and doesn't mind the motorcycle in the least) since the roads have changed since the maps were set up! Eventually came across the Lutheran church set in a really tiny town amidst rolling farmland and sheep dotted pastures. All very pretty and pastoral.
The founders village in Nelson (where we sampled the beer and found Castle beer listed in the International Beer Bible) has a 'functioning' church too - used for weddings - especially the kind with horse drawn carriages and sepia like photography with bridesmaids issued with pretty parasols and groomsmen in top hats and tails - you get the picture.
Queenstown - so named apparently, because it's beautiful enough to entertain Her Majesty - has this little church tucked away right in the middle of the 'city' - also just a little 'round the back'. Since it was raining and really miserable and the town was filled to more-than-capacity with extremely well heeled folks spending obscene amounts of money in the outrageously expensive, designer boutiques - we didn't hang about for too long. Very glad to have visited the town - will definitely go there again, but off season and mostly to see the spectacular lakes and mountains. We agreed that you can keep the shopping!
This is a really sad church - you can see by the condition of the spire that it's no longer in use as a church - like so many of the churches around New Zealand, it has been 'converted' - this one is now a funeral home. Not quite as sacrilegious as so many others that have been re-designed in upmarket paint jobs and are either coffee shoppes or top end craft shops. This particular one was built about a hundred years ago by the Methodists to serve their growing flock after the missionaries did such a sterling job of converting the 'heathens' they found here!
Timaru has some really magnificent churches - for a coastal, holiday town which hosts a Christmas carnaval on the beach every year - this year being the Centenary Christmas Carnaval - the town appears to be only a little larger than Wanganui - but lo and behold, there are these huge churches - Methodist, Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian - most all the major denominations are represented and have dramatic buildings to prove it!
Here is the Sacred Heart Basilica in Timaru - there was a service in progress on the morning that we took the photograph so we didn't go in, but judging by the sounds emanating from the building, there is a large pipe organ in use and a fair few congregants with 'oh my goodness, listen to ME' voices!
Also in Timaru - one could be excused for thinking that this was the hub of all things sacred in the South - a church round every bend!
And our little congregation hires a first floor conference room in the centre of Wanganui for the moment - still think it would be better to hire out the churches than to sell them and convert them into commercial premises - but that's probably just a personal opinion.
The main focus of Cathedral Square in Christchurch - this beautiful old building has miraculously sidestepped major damage with the recent earthquakes that have hit other, similarly aged buildings in the city. Some of those others have their spires 'taped up' or 'shored up' with scaffolding and the like and are somewhat depressed and frantic looking - this one, still to all intents and purposes, perfect for the tourist photographs which are constantly being taken. The square was the venue for the New Year celebrations this year and is a hub of the city with the i-site for us happy wanderers, the tram 'base stop', a good few souvenir shops, plenty of talented buskers and a Starbucks cafe with tables on the square for watching the world go by while enjoying a coffee over a map or two. 
We had to wait a little while to get this 'lonely' looking photograph - the place was literally overrun by camera-clutching tourists - mostly of the asian persuasion and in groups of never less than it seemed like fifty!
We spied this Catholic church sort of through the sidestreets and round the back of tiny Hokitika - it was a bit of a trudge to get there, but there it stood in all it's splendour - in spite of New Zealand being very 'un-religious', these dramatic church buildings are dotted about all over the place.
Now this one was a little harder to find - we had heard about a really old German settlement outside Nelson and followed the Neudorf road to find it - after getting our lady-in-a-box totally confused (who by the way, speaks fluent Afrikaans and doesn't mind the motorcycle in the least) since the roads have changed since the maps were set up! Eventually came across the Lutheran church set in a really tiny town amidst rolling farmland and sheep dotted pastures. All very pretty and pastoral.
The founders village in Nelson (where we sampled the beer and found Castle beer listed in the International Beer Bible) has a 'functioning' church too - used for weddings - especially the kind with horse drawn carriages and sepia like photography with bridesmaids issued with pretty parasols and groomsmen in top hats and tails - you get the picture.
Queenstown - so named apparently, because it's beautiful enough to entertain Her Majesty - has this little church tucked away right in the middle of the 'city' - also just a little 'round the back'. Since it was raining and really miserable and the town was filled to more-than-capacity with extremely well heeled folks spending obscene amounts of money in the outrageously expensive, designer boutiques - we didn't hang about for too long. Very glad to have visited the town - will definitely go there again, but off season and mostly to see the spectacular lakes and mountains. We agreed that you can keep the shopping!
This is a really sad church - you can see by the condition of the spire that it's no longer in use as a church - like so many of the churches around New Zealand, it has been 'converted' - this one is now a funeral home. Not quite as sacrilegious as so many others that have been re-designed in upmarket paint jobs and are either coffee shoppes or top end craft shops. This particular one was built about a hundred years ago by the Methodists to serve their growing flock after the missionaries did such a sterling job of converting the 'heathens' they found here!
Timaru has some really magnificent churches - for a coastal, holiday town which hosts a Christmas carnaval on the beach every year - this year being the Centenary Christmas Carnaval - the town appears to be only a little larger than Wanganui - but lo and behold, there are these huge churches - Methodist, Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian - most all the major denominations are represented and have dramatic buildings to prove it!
Here is the Sacred Heart Basilica in Timaru - there was a service in progress on the morning that we took the photograph so we didn't go in, but judging by the sounds emanating from the building, there is a large pipe organ in use and a fair few congregants with 'oh my goodness, listen to ME' voices!
Also in Timaru - one could be excused for thinking that this was the hub of all things sacred in the South - a church round every bend!
And our little congregation hires a first floor conference room in the centre of Wanganui for the moment - still think it would be better to hire out the churches than to sell them and convert them into commercial premises - but that's probably just a personal opinion.
Dis al!
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