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 Midwinter 2007 Home Logistics Activities Schedule
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[ Especially for locals ]
Midwinter Coronation 2007 LogisticsBecause Coronation is held across four main venues in two days, we're laying out the logistical arrangements as clearly as possible to help your planning. You're most welcome to ask the stewards if you have further questions. VenuesPlease note that all venues are strictly no smoking. Southron Gaarders: at some stage before the event, please visit the sites and the Botanical Gardens walk, to familiarise yourself with the venues, locations of toilets and other rooms, and routes, so that you may help any of our visitors. Crown Masonic Lodge: Friday Evening Welcome Revel and Peerage Vigil74 Wordsworth St, Sydenham; see map here. This lovely hall just off Colombo Street in Sydenham has ample street parking, toilets and kitchen facilities on-site. Arrive when you can after 6:30pm, bring supper or snacks to share, pre-register for the main event, meet old friends and leave when you need to rest up for the morrow! Hall closes around 10:30pm. Great Hall: Coronation CeremoniesThe Christchurch Arts Centre (in the centre of the main map; Great Hall is arrowed) is a popular attraction. This being a weekend during school holidays and during KidsFest, it is liable to be highly trafficked. You're welcome to venture forth to see the centre and its weekend market during the breaks between ceremonies, but do please keep an eye on time. The Great Hall doors will be closed and guarded when courts are on. If you miss the call for Court, you may be left outside. Heed the call of the heralds! Storage area in the Great Hall area is limited -- you'll be able to have a bag or a basket under your seat for anything you may need during the Coronation ceremonies (please try to keep this as period as you can). Limited storage may also be available in the Green Room or under the raised seating at the back of the hall, please ask the gatekeeper if in doubt. When you arrive on site, lighten your load by having your feast gear and any clothing changes put in the truck to be taken around to the Feast Hall. Label your feast bags, baskets and clothing bags! We'd strongly recommend that you change for the Feast and/or for the later Ball, should you wish to do so, at the Feast Hall as there will be a large amount of room available there for this purpose, and minimal room in the Great Hall. There are public toilets adjacent to the main entrance of the Great Hall and markets including food stalls within the Arts Centre complex, should you wish to partake. See below for information on parking options. Horticultural Hall: Saturday Afternoon FeastThis hall can be seen in the parkland at the bottom left of the main map. There is limited free parking in the grounds of the Horticultural Hall and plenty of street parking outside. There will be areas set aside in this hall for storage of your gear (including feast gear you may have checked in at the Great Hall) and for getting changed. Toilets are on site. Feast seating will not be pre-allocated but we strongly encourage you to in-fill gaps at tables so that larger parties arriving later than you do will be able to be seated together if they wish. Please follow all directions of the Hall Steward in this regard. Only very limited cleaning facilities will be available for your feast gear at the hall, therefore please bring plastic bags or similar to put it in for the rest of the evening. When the time comes to return to the Great Hall for rest of the evening, please allow yourself to be marshalled into guided walking parties by our Transport Captain. Our City Otautahi: Sunday morning Peerage meetings, Market, A&SOur City is alongside Worcester St bridge, just to the right of the "Cam" of "Cambridge Ter" on the main map. There is a parking building over the road and street parking near at hand, see below. The rooms used are upstairs -- the Library will be for Peerage meetings and the Council Chambers for the Market and A&S display. Toilets are on site. The bus to Sign of the Takahe will leave from outside Our City after the Market and Peerage meetings are completed and will return to Our City after the Queen's Champion Tourney. In the event of bad weather for the Tourney, an early return may be made to this venue and alternative afternoon activities will take place here. Sign of the Takahe: Sunday afternoon Queens High Tea and Champion's TourneyDyers Pass Rd, Cashmere. See map here. This is a private manor house run as a restaurant and visitor's attraction. It has plenty of street parking outside. Those who have booked for the Queen's High Tea will partake of this until it is time for the Queen's Champion Tourney. The latter will take place in the walled grounds of the Sign of the Takahe, whose ground floor will remain open for our disposal. There are additional toilets (and lovely city views) in the adjacent reserve for those who may wish to take a stroll at any point. In addition to the optional chartered bus to/from Our City, there are public buses from the central city running past this venue. ParkingFridayThere is ample free parking near the likely venue for Friday's welcome revel. SaturdayStreet parking along Rolleston Ave (outside the Great Hall): one or two hour limit, $2.50 per hour from 9:00am to 6:00pm Sat/Sun. Rolleston Ave carpark (right over road from Great Hall): Pay and display (pay with coins only) $2.50/hr between 09.00am to 6.00pm Sat/Sun, open 24 hours, likely three hour limit. Art Gallery parking building (entrance off Gloucester St, over Montreal St from far end of Arts Centre block): $1.10 per half hour, closes 11:45pm Saturday. There is limited free parking in the grounds of the Horticultural Hall and plenty of street parking outside. SundayThe Art Gallery parking building is within 5-10 minute's walk to Sunday morning's Our City Otautahi venue, or you could use Oxford Terrace Parking Building which is right over the road from the venue. However, the Oxford Terrace building may close soon after midday and its height clearance (for those with vans) is just 2.03m. There is plenty of un-metered parking near the Sign of the Takahe. AccommodationBilleting is available (see below) but the number of visitors for this event may exceed Southron Gaard's legendary capacity for hosting guests. Therefore please consider the remaining accommodation options, particularly in view of their excellent proximity to the venues, transportation hubs and the attractions of Christchurch City centre. The prices are as checked earlier this year and so are indicative. The timing is during the school holidays, so book early if you can. YMCA Hereford St YHA Rolleston House Alternative Accommodation If you wish to check whether a billet is available, please email the Coronation Billeting Officer specifying your arrival and departure dates, the number of people in your party and whether you would have any problem billeting with households containing children and/or pets. TransportAirport to/from townThe main venues and recommended accommodation options are all in central Christchurch. A trip from the airport to the centre of town should be a few dollars by bus, perhaps $15 in a shared shuttle, and $25 or so by taxi. Town to Friday's Welcome Revel and Peerage VigilAny bus running south along Colombo St from the Bus Exchange to Sydenham will get you to within 50m or so of the venue for the Welcome Revel. The free "shopper's bus" will get you to within 500m (continue along Colombo St. over the railway bridge to Wordsworth St). Town to the Great HallBuses run along Rolleston Ave just outside the Great Hall; the tram will get you there too (eventually). If you're staying in the recommended accommodation, you'll probably be just over the road. If you're with a billet, they'll get you there and home again one way or another. Great Hall to/from the Horticultural HallThis is a 15-20 minute garden and river walk each way from the Great Hall; the outward journey will be around 3-4pm and the return after dark, with lanterns and guides. If there has been recent heavy rain, most paths will be well drained and footed but you'll have to give some attention to long trains, particularly on the return journey. If the weather is bad on the day (or strongly expected to be bad for the return walk), we'll be encouraging Southron Gaarders to use their vehicles to drive to the Horticultural Hall and offer available space to those without their own transport. We'll have some people-movers to supplement this, but please expect to walk unless conditions are distinctly wet or very windy. Should you wish to make your own arrangements for either leg of the walk, a local taxi company can be reached on (03) 3795 795. Bus and Van To/from Our City Otautahi and the Sign of the TakaheOur City Otautahi is very near in the centre of town; any bus to the Bus Exchange will get you within a few minutes walk of it. For those who have booked, a bus will be leaving Our City Otautahi at 11:30am, and an eight-seater van around 12:15pm, to take people up to the Sign of the Takahe, site of the Queen's Tea and Queen's Champion Tourney. Space on the bus is preferentially for people who are booked for High Tea also, but the bus won't leave until completely full, so some non-High Tea attendees will also be on it. The 12:15pm van is for folk who are skipping High Tea but wanting to be at the Takahe for the Tourney. The van will leave the Takahe site back to Our City with a full load (first in, first served) after Closing Court, around 4pm. The bus will depart after any pick-up fighting has ended at the site -- 5pm at the very latest. It will return to Our City Otautahi and then onto the airport. Bus between Sign of the Takahe and Christchurch AirportThe above bus will continue on to the airport after its stop at Our City. Its latest arrival time at the airport would be 6pm. If you have need it to be there a little earlier, contact the event steward NOW in case an earlier bus trip time can be arranged without inconveniencing others. WeatherThe most likely weather conditions for this time of year are calm, clear days around 10-15 degrees C and cold nights around 0-5 degrees C. Rain or strong winds are not likely and snow even less so, but this is mid-winter so be prepared for such possibilities. With the partial exception of the Queen's Champion Tourney (which will revert to an indoor Queen's Whim Tourney in the event of very bad weather) and the walk to and from the feast venue, all activities will take place at least under shelter and mostly in warmed halls. In planning your garb each day, do allow for a possible change in conditions. Layers are your friend! Christchurch weather sites: Metservice and Wunderground. Especially for LocalsWe're assuming Southron Gaarders will generally find their own way to and from all the venues. Space on the bus to/from the Takahe will be preferentially allocated to visitors but bus bookings from locals will also be accepted. Bad weather contingencies:
For those travelling from afar, see also: Advice for Far Travellers to Canterbury Faire, which includes some helpful information which may be relevant. Questions or corrections related to this page? Email Webscribe. |
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