A Phenomenal Packing Break - Catholic Cathedral Tour

This was another one of those activities on our to-do list before leaving Christchurch. With less than 24 hours remaining, Mark called a halt to the packing and cleaning and insisted we all traipse down to our beloved Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament for a tour.

The sacristan, Helen, had been alerted to the possibility we might come by, and she had a royal tour prepared for us. In addition to many neat revelations about the history of the building and its renovations over the years, she took us into all the nooks and crannies usually off limits. After one hundred-twenty one steps up spiral iron staircases and through two-foot wide concrete stairwells, we gawked almost straight down on the altar and the bishop’s chair from the very top of the dome. While the views were stunning, the kids’ favourite part of the tour was climbing inside the cold, dusty belfry and pulling on the fat ropes that tolled the bells for thousands of people to hear. With Helen’s help they hammered out a bell carol that surely left a few people wondering just who had snuck into the belfry at 3:47 pm on a Monday afternoon.