Christchurch

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On Sunday we returned to Christchurch and headed straight for the Botanic Gardens. We took a picnic and ate it whilst listening to a Scottish Pipe Band. They drew a surprisingly large crowd which must indicate how many people in this part of the world are of Scots extract.



The garden was wonderful. The roses in particular were great. Later we treated ourselves to an ice cream whilst listening to Flip Grater a NZ singer songwriter. Each weekend there is some free entertainment in the Garden. Seeing as no one actually lives in the city centre the car parks were full and we had to find a side street and hope the campervan was still there whenwe returned six hours later - Lyn does like her flowers!



We stayed on a commercial campsite in Christchurch for our last night in theCampervan



On Monday morning, after breakfast it was chores time. Packing suitcases, cleaning the campervan inside and out ready for its return.



We are now inthe Novotel hotel,built since the 2011 earthquake right next to the cathedral. Although it was a bit cool and had been raining we took an open top bus (1967 red london bus) sight seeing trip. Most of the sights are derelict ground being used as car parks or buildings being constructed or demolished. It would appear that the authorities are keen not to just rebuild lost buildings but also compulsory purchase usable buildings to redesidgn the city. I just feel the end result will be a bit sterile, and the politics are raging, they can't decided if the Cathedral should be rebuilt, and in fact they had started to demolish it in favour of another hotel.



However the. 185 empty chairs, representing those lost in the earthquake, the chairs havingbeen donated by the families was one of the most moving things we have seen.



The cricket world cup starts here in a few days time and we are told that two teams are inthe hotel and England will be here next week. When most locals recognise our England accents we get ribbed about Cricket and Rugby - what wiill it be like when we reach Oz?

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