We arrived in Christchurch on the train on the evening of the 30th, and had one night out on the town before M had to fly back to San Francisco the following day.
To give our time in Christchurch a bit of context, it's probably best to provide a bit of back story. Christchurch is the third most populous city in New Zealand (368,000 people) and the biggest city on the South Island. In the early hours of September 2010, it was hit by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, weakening the city's infrastructure. At mid-day in February 2011, a 6.3 earthquake struck central Christchurch, devastating the city and killing 185 people. This event is a turning point in Christchurch (and New Zealand) history the way that 9/11 is in New York.
We have been hearing about the earthquakes since we moved here - everything is pre-and post-earthquake, and the economy has been greatly affected by the rebuild. Everyone talks about all the historic buildings that were destroyed, particularly the Christchurch Cathedral. All that we've heard about it didn't prepare us for the extent of the destruction. We thought a few old buildings over a couple of blocks had been affected, but it was so much more than that.
According to Wikipedia, 1,000 of the 4,000 buildings downtown were initially expected to be demolished - including hotels, office buildings, homes, etc. Based on what we saw, many of those buildings are still yet to be demolished. Some of them look like they've been sitting untouched since February 2011 - including many restaurants. I wouldn't want to be on the demolition team that has to empty out those kitchens! A big part of the problem is that New Zealand has such a small population that the resources aren't available to reconstruct the city at the rate you might expect, so if you know any builders, send them our way!
We spent three days in Christchurch, including New Year's. We were sad to see M leave that morning, and our sadness grew when we finally made it to check out downtown Christchurch (in the rain, no less). We had dinner near our hotel and then toasted with some Amisfield bubbles to ring in 2015. On New Year's Day we carried out our 5-year tradition of spending all day in bed watching TV before heading out to Lake Tekapo on the 2nd.
We were in Tekapo to check out the Mt. John Observatory on the Dark Sky Reserve, but once again, our plans were thwarted by the weather. Although it was a nice day, it was too cloudy to see anything, so we had to cancel our tour. We took advantage of our stop in Tekapo to do a horseback ride in the region, which played Edoras in the Lord of the Rings movies. It was supposed to be a 3.5 hour ride, but ended up being 4.5 hours - which is a lot of time to spend on a horse if your name isn't Aragorn or Eowyn.
Near the end of the ride, Rob's horse slipped on a beer can, spooked, and bucked. Rob fell off on the way back down, but thankfully wasn't hurt or too traumatised to get back on his horse.
After Tekapo we headed out to Akaroa (population 700), which is the only French settlement in New Zealand. It it a popular tourist spot, so has a better selection of activities and nice restaurants than its size might suggest. We loved it so much we stayed for three nights, including one overnight on a sheep farm, which we'll tell you more about later!
 |
| Clockwise from top left: the Container Mall in downtown Christchurch - a quick construction solution; the old Christchurch cathedral, missing its steeple; the famous Cardboard Cathedral, a stunning example of Kiwi ingenuity; 185 white chairs in front of the CTV buildling, where 115 people were killed; Rob lighting a candle for Grump (in keeping with family tradition) |
 |
| Top: Our new favourite bar, Volstead Trading Company; Bottom: New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. |
 |
| In Lake Tekapo. |
 |
| Horseback riding - with a cookie stop at what appears to be a fairy ring. |
 |
| I've been horseback riding in the US, Mexico, Switzerland and Jamaica, but this was the most stunning ride I've ever taken - we went through open plans, over mountains, around the lake, along the beach and back through some fields. |
 |
| Top: On our horses; Bottom: our campsite in Akaroa |
 |
| Akaroa - our new favourite town in New Zealand! |
No comments:
Post a Comment