Sunday 1/2/15

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Sunday 1/2/15 Hamner Springs to Christchurch. Just one night in HS but a fairly short journey to Christchurch, after a quick look in the wool shop in town to get socks for Ben and Lizzie's new one (when it arrives). The woman in the shop was telling us that she's had to walk through waist deep snow in winter in HS!Looking forward to a coffee stop in a town like the many we have passed through already, but there didn't seem to be any! Maybe it's because of the proximity to the city but the towns we went through looked less inviting and more boarded up. Managed to find a cafe in the middle of nowhere but it seemed to be attached to some kind of theme park (a very small one). Anyway it had tea and coffee so that was the main thing. Arrived in Christchurch, almost strange to see so many people and cars again! Checked in at our motel about 1pm got a washing done and headed into the city for a look. We are walking distance via a park with gardens, lakes a river and the cricket pitch where some of the World Cup matches will be played. Emerging from the other side of the park, you immediately see the building works that cover most of the centre of town in the aftermath of the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Lots of buildings shored up, others have been repaired and some yet to be demolished. The city is sort of sad and quiet in places but it seems as though new life is springing up in other areas. The re:START mall aka container city and apparently the suburbs have more life than before. We found that quite a few of the top rated restaurants on trip advisor were on the same street as our motel so that was handy. Velvet Burger was the choice for tonight. Had to go to the garage for a bottle of wine because the bottle shop closed before 9pm.

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