Blogs from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

We arrived in Christchurch after mostly uneventful flights. I didn't think the flight was all that bad. I was able to get some sleep. John on the other hand didn't sleep very well. We were met by Deb and Greg who we learned had missed their flight from Melbourne but were able to catch the next one out and arrived in Christchurch very early in the morning so went to the beach and had a little cat nap. Our hotel for the night was Meridale Manor which was very comfortable and roomy. On our way to our rooms, the proprieter pointed out the cracks in the walls from the earthquake 2 years ago. After dropping off our bags, we set off to see the city. Nothing could have prepared us for the devastation we saw. There ... read more

Leaving Queenstown behind us, we are now heading north back up the south island and our next stop was Lake Tekapo. Our first break of the day was at a supermarket, where the driver encouraged us to buy food for the next couple of days, as we were off to 'wup-wup' (aka the middle of nowhere). We also stopped off at a Salmon Farm - not sure why, but the Japanese tourists did seem to enjoy feeding the fish! - where we splashed out on some salmon fillets for our dinner. Our final breaks on the day's bus journey were Twizel (gateway to Mt Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand) and then lake Pukaki for views across to Mt Cook. Lake Tekapo is renowned for star gazing, as it's in the middle of nowhere, with ... read more

Just a brief post to explain some of the photos: We flew to Christchurch on 28th and got picked up from the airport by a lady who we were sharing a ride in her Kombi with her and a Canadian girl, who both turned out to be awesome great people! Littel more than an hour outside of Christchurch you get to the bottom of Mt Hutt, a popular ski field in winter. After extensive bag searches we got to the camping field and set up. We then left the majority of the other festival goers, who were just chilling at their tents in large numbers having more than a few drinks, and went to actually listen to some music! 2days of great acts and good company. We then travelled back to Christchurch on the road by ... read more

Yup, five more sleeps and we will leave summer for Siberia. Oh well. There's such a thing as hibernation. It's been pretty warm Here. 85 today. So now the viscosity of my blood is like kerosine. Of course we will be wearing everything we can on the way home. To keep our bags within the weight limit. So three different airlines. Six airports. It's going to be interesting. Here AARP a few pictures from the last few days. Thanks for looking L... read more

Arrived in christchurch South Island yesterday, I was met a the airport by my cousin Patsi and her husband Chris. From here we drove through a devastated city which two years on from the quake still remains like a war zone. There are huge areas which once housed shopping precincts, libraries, offices etc which are now flat desolate and meaningless. Some of the more recent buildings survived one the art gallery with a glass facade did not have one broken pane of glass. A tribute to modern technology and architecture. It's as though the city has lost it's soul, it felels like a ghost town and even people like Patsi and Chris who have lived here for long periods automatically look for landmarks which are no longer there. People were without sanitation and water for a ... read more

Akaroa to Christchurch to Kimber We left early on a very warm morning and made good progress (even avoiding a small hedgehog who decided to cross the road) towards Christchurch arriving at around 10.15. Managed to catch a tour bus of the city, this was an old 1960 Routemaster from London, a classic red double decker which reminded us of our childhood. The guy commentating on the effect of the earthquake in February 2011 was brilliant and for an hour on the bus we witnessed and listened to the impact on the city of Christchurch of the events of 22months previous. The city looked like a war zone and reminded me of the pictures of Hamburg in the Second World War after Bomber Harris had plastered the city with bombs. Credit to the people of Christchurch ... read more

Christchurch is a very English city with spires, private schools and punting on the tranquil river. It is also a city which was nearly destroyed in a series of horrific earthquakes. I had no idea the quakes were so bad. The first in Sept 2010 caused significant damage and the second in Feb 2011 further damaged imany unstable buildings and killed 185. Most died in the Canterbury Television Building which completely collapsed. The effected area of the city is now sealed off - approximately 0.7km sq. I took a tour bus through the area wondering how appropriate it is to be a tourist in such a space. It is like a city after a terrorist attack or a war. Shops, churches, pubs, restaurants, the cathedral, bus stations, tram stations all closed. Some offices still have furniture ... read more