Christchurch stopover - Cones to Cranes

---

Arriving just before the weekend gave us some time to spend with family and friends before we fly off to the other side of the world and our Swedish family. Time too, to catch up with the rebuild of Christchurch city central. Whilst to me, it is still ‘cone’ city it is also ‘crane’ city. The tram is back on its tracks, the buildings are being built and the parking wardens are busy. Waiting for a ticket to beprinted, I felt a bit outdated and frustrated when no ticket appeared. Apparently no tickets are printed these days just punch in your car number plate and you can check how much time you have left or even top up from another location. It sure beats that last minute panic to get back before the ticket runs out and you get a different kind of ticket! Thanks to the friendly parking warden who explained that system to me. Now that would be great in Blenheim. Or better still maybe do what Nelson does. The first hour is free- even better. I guess collecting transport ticket souvenirs will not be my thing this trip.

A pleasant stroll through to the repaired Bridge of Remembrance for some fun photos, then we enjoyed watching the other sightseers exploring the city. Good to see the street art in so many places which would otherwise still look dilapidated. Whilst it is sad to see there is still so much left to repair from the Canterbury earthquakes, there has definitely been noticeable progress and there are new buildings rising up from the devastation of the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes.

Visits with cousins for coffee and lunch caught us up with the latest family news. Many happy hours spent with gorgeous grand-girl Harper, scrumptious family meals and last minute shopping and packing and we were ready to travel. Off to the airport and the first of several delays. Yes - flying is the way to travel (just as long as you have time to wait at airports) Our flight to Auckland was a little late yet uneventful however our flight to Hong Kong was delayed by two and a half hours - here we go!

---