Dorset County Hospital

Advantages: Friendly, Efficient, Very Clean
Disadvantages: None, apart from waiting time

...I am at present resting at home after an operation on my left shoulder, made necessary after a clumsy fall that compressed the shoulder joint. After a regimen of physiotherapy and steroids it was deemed that an operation called a subacromial decompression was arranged and took place at the orthopaedic unit of the Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, Dorset. I was given a choice of three hospitals, in line with the government's policy of offering a choice and I feel that I made the correct decision. The choices on the list were The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital, Poole General Hospital and the Dorset county. Bournemouth was too far away, Poole is not a very nice hospital so I was left with Dorchester . First Impressions Once the appointment for surgery was made I was asked to attend a Anaesthesia Pre...

JeffFromPoole 15.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Dorset County Hospital

Christchurch tramway - drive through a building or crash into it

Advantages: Fun way to do a city tour
Disadvantages: Rickety, don't run often, expensive, slow

...The Christchurch tramway is a 2.5km long tourist tramway that loops around the city centre of Christchurch in New Zealand. Although vintage trams are used, this is not a historical remnant (the tram networked stopped being used in the 1950s), but were reinstated as a tourist attraction in 1995. Each tram has its own quirks and features, and each driver tells you different interesting stories about the places you are going around. We thought that some of the stories may have had fictional elements added to them - the drivers were all charming and eccentric. Some of the trams are a little more rickety than others, though I found that they were comfortable enough inside for short distances. With these being vintage trams, accessibility isn't great - wheelchair access to the trams is available, though not from every station, and you get...

beckyXX 03.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Christchurch Tramway, Christchurch

Centerpiece of Christchurch

Advantages: Wonderful view from spire, interesting decor, great central location near other sites, free
Disadvantages: Quite busy

...Christchurch is my favourite city in New Zealand. It is modern and happening, whilst still retaining a very refined and serene atmosphere, with its willow-banked river creeping through the city centre, benches in small gardens for people to pass time on, and lovely old buildings. The centrepiece of Christchurch would have to be its gothic-style cathedral. It is located in the attractively cobbled Cathedral Square, which is packed with people enjoying street performers, including jugglers and the famous Wizard of Christchurch, an official living monument who is a site in himself, preaching on all kinds of topics from a step ladder, tourists playing giant chess, marketstalls, baton twirlers, choirs, sculptures, cafes and bars. And there is no better place to watch all this going on that from the top of the cathedral spire. From...

VC81 28.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Christchurch Cathedral, Christchurch

Christchurch Gondola

Advantages: Brilliant views.
Disadvantages: Make sure weather is nice before you go. Expensive.

...We heard that New Zealand was famous for having more sheep than people and after being in Christchurch for a couple of days, quite amazed that we hadn't seen any sheep, that was until we had a ride up the gondola..... The gondola is a 945 mitre ride from the bottom of the port hills (very steep hill that the first settlers walked over on their arrival - i.e. had to get from the port to the flats). 500 meters above sea level. Take a trip to the crater rim of Christchurch famous extinct volcano. At the top you have a spectacular view of Christchurch, Lyttleton and depending on the clouds... Diamond Harbour/Governers Bay, etc. It's quite expensive to go up - $22 for an adult and $10 for school age kids (family pass - 2 adults and 3 kids $55). I do know at the centre of town they have an offer for a tram ride and gondola (tram...

13283 31.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Christchurch Gondola, Christchurch

Dux de Lux - review of Christchurch Restaurant

Advantages: Central location, price, food quality, vegetarian friendly, vegan-friendly, gluten free options
Disadvantages: Not a lot for fussy eaters

...Dux De Lux is an ?aquatarian? restaurant/bar complex in Christchurch, New Zealand that offers great food for vegetarians (and pescetarians) at a reasonable price. It is located in the city centre, next to the Arts centre, and is extremely close to the Botanic Gardens. On the two occasions that I have been there, the outside seating has been extremely crowded, with a few spaces inside in the restaurant area. Dux de Lux is a complex that is divided into several parts ? including the restaurant, three bars, and two outside seating areas. This review is about the restaurant. The atmosphere The furnishing and atmosphere here are a quirky mixture of ?traditional British pub? mixed with ?gleaming school canteen? ? for the most part, the tables and surrounds are very traditional, with thick carpets and wooden panelling, but the food...

beckyXX 02.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Dux de Lux, Christchurch

Christchurch - a little piece of England in New Zealand

Advantages: Beautiful city
Disadvantages: Not very Kiwi

...Christchurch is in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island and is the largest city on this island. Like the North Island's Auckland, it is a key arrival point and hub for international travellers. Christchurch is situated close to the East coast and to the West lie the immense flat sweeps of the Canterbury plains. These vast plains feel flat, even to me, a native of East Anglia. Their main use is farmland and they require regular wind blocks of tall fences of trees to stop the topsoil from blowing away. Named by the after Oxford's Christ Church (a college that one of the Canterbury Association went to), it was a colony sponsored by the Church of England about 150 years ago. Even today, the city centre has an extremely British in feel to it and even has a river Avon upon which you can go punting!The centre itself has...

beckyXX 03.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Christchurch - New Zealand

Dinosaurland in Dorset

Advantages: Preserving a Phenomena. Tourism. International Recognition
Disadvantages: None

...What a Century! ******************* In 1821 Mary Anning discovered the first complete ichthyosaurus while wading and searching for fossils under the dangerous, crumbling cliffs in her home town of Lyme Regis in West Dorset, on the coast of South West England. What would this proud, uneducated working class woman think of the latest news? In 1834, the six men now known as The Tolpuddle Martyrs, the founders of the Trade Union movement, were found guilty of Mutiny in the County Court of Dorchester, the County town of Dorset, and sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia. What would these Dorset farm labourers who altered the social structure in England, think of the latest news? In 1840 Thomas Hardy the Dorset author was born, yet to write his world famous classical literature to include ‘Far From the Madding...

mornev 28.10.2002 · Read review
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Review of Dorset (England)

My experience of christchurch

Advantages: So many, such a beautiful place
Disadvantages: None id go again.

...Christchurch new zealand. Well what can i say? One of THE most beautiful places i have ever visited in the world. I visited christchurch last christmas (2007-2008) and had one of the most memorable times of my life. When we arrived in christchurch airport the security was tight, showing the care that new zealand has for their country. We had our walking boots washed down and our big rucksacks emptied to make sure everything in them was ok! Which it was thankfully. And we walked through the doors to be greeted by beautiful sunshine and us thinking omgosh, after just coming for 9 degree tempratures in the uk, to 27 degrees in christchurch. We stayed in a guide house on our first night (as we are guides) and it was called crarcroft house and it was beautiful. On our way travelling through christchurch we commented how fresh and clean...

alico 31.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Christchurch - New Zealand

Breakfast from Dorset

Advantages: It is exactly as it says on the box.
Disadvantages: Quite expensive.

...I as really can't stand milk breakfast can be a bit of an issue with me. Just the thought of cereal going soggy in a bowl full of milk just churns my stomach. Therefore I just usually give breakfast a miss. That is until I discovered Dorset Cereals Really Nutty Muesli. Whilst cat sitting for the parents the other week, I discovered a box of the said muesli in mum's kitchen cupboard. It really caught my eye because the packaging is so different. The cereal comes in a terracotta coloured cardboard box with a design cut out on the front that resembles an ear of corn that is backed with clear plastic. On the front it states 750g of unadulterated breakfast pleasure. Through the plastic windows you can see the museli. It looked so good (an I will come on to why in a mo), that I decided just to try a handful. Oh, what heaven, its...

tattie123 30.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Dorset Cereals Really Nutty Muesli

THE Great Dorset Steam Fair

Advantages: Plenty to see and do
Disadvantages: Does require a lot of walking

...The Annual Great Dorset Steam Fair, has been running since 1968 at Tarrant Hinton in Dorset, and for five days each year is the premier tourist attraction in the county. The Fair has grown to be one of Europe's biggest outdoor shows, covering as it does 600 acres of farmer's fields in Dorset. It is difficult to convey just how big the fair has grown to, but the first glimpse of the site always astounds me as to how much land is taken up. There is a preconception that the fair is purely for those interested in steam power, but it is much more than that. The most common exhibits are the steam traction engines, tractors and farm engines, many of which undertake the purpose they were built for in the showground. There are also scores of musical attractions in the form of fairgorund organs run from steam. Aside from these core activities...

mrtimharry 03.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Great Dorset Steam Fair