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Published: February 15th 2011
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So after leaving Australia early we arrived in Christchurch 10 days earlier than planned but hadn’t told Dad and Sandra who were due to arrive before us in order to surprise them when they arrived!! We landed around midnight and headed out in search of the shuttle transport to Christchurch centre and then to find our accommodation. We did so with ease and on the way the driver told us all about the earthquakes they had endured on boxing day with about 30 aftershocks - a lot of the building are now closed off and can’t be used along with a lot of the hostels now closed as they are structurally unsafe. So we were dropped off at and checked into one of the few backpackers places still operating after the September earthquake - Stonehurst Accommodation. As it was close to 2 AM by the time we turned in we had booked two nights in a expensive room with en-suite as we knew we would be spending the next four months in a camper van so a little luxury before hand!!
The following day, after a long lie in, we headed out to explore Christchurch and find a vehicle. We
walked for miles that day and found the main shopping areas as well as the car market. We saw a few vans that we liked but thought we’d look around a bit before we bought so went back to the hostel for a cuppa and then decided to walk to the other end of town to where there was another car market!! This place didn’t have a lot of campers and the ones they had didn’t look very good so we decided to head back to the first place. There was a couple of vans that we decided we wanted to look at but as they were just closing we said we would go back the following day. So in the rain and cold the following day we headed back down there (about a 15 min walk away) to look at one van in particular. It was still for sale (which was good as someone had been looking at it the day before when we were there) and so we got the keys looked it over and Mark took it for a test drive. We decided that we liked it and it drove well so had a mechanical check done
on it to see what was wrong with the engine!! Well, glad we did really - the cam belt needed changing and the diesel pump was leaking so we arranged that if the seller would drop the price we would pay for the repairs - which is what happened - we’d just bought ourselves a van!! Time for a drink! It took another four days for the van to be repaired and got back to us. Meanwhile we spent the time exploring every road in Christchurch and going to see some of the athletics (see other blog).
We had been warned that we may feel some small aftershocks and had felt a few small ones whilst in the room but only very little and short lived until we were rudely awoken at 6.03 AM by a big ‘aftershock’! Later listening to the radio that had declared it as an earthquake as it had registered 5.1 on the Richter scale!! There were a few aftershocks that day too and a few more over the coming days! Strange to say you got quite used to them and just carried on with what you were doing as they were often short.
We picked up the van on the Monday afternoon and spent the rest of the evening finding out exactly what was in it and what was needed to get before washing all the bedding and crossing our fingers it would be dry by the evening as we were sleeping in it!!
The following day we spent walking around Christchurch buying the few bits we needed for the van and awaiting the arrival of Dad and Sandra! We had planned to wait outside their accommodation and surprise them as they got off the shuttle/out of the taxi from the airport. However, I had got the wrong accommodation!! I had convinced myself they were staying at the YHA and they weren’t, it was the YMCA!! So after sitting outside the YHA to no avail I went to check that they were indeed staying there and was told that the YHA had no booking for them!! So we quickly found an internet café so I could check the email and found out I had got the wrong place!! So we hot footed it over the other side of Christchurch and went to see if they had checked in. A kind lady on
the desk told us they had and what room they were in so we went an knocked on the door. Dad opened the door very sleepily and totally dumbfounded as we were meant to be in Australia!!
We went out for dinner that night and struggled to find anywhere still open that wasn’t massively expensive as everywhere reasonable seems to be shut by 9 PM! We found a lovely pub called The Bog, that although they had finished serving their main menu still had a late menu available so we did manage to eat something!!
There was a Buskers festival being held throughout Christchurch at the time we were here, most of which was free the rest was by a small donation. Obviously all acts were collecting during and after the performances - it was after all a buskers festival. So we all met up in the morning to go and watch a Maori performance group called Maui. It was a half hour performance with lots of songs and Hakka’s which was fantastic to watch - I just wish I knew some of the translations and the songs were quite soothing and the Hakka’s quite exciting!! Later that
afternoon after showing Dad and Sandra our new home ‘Mitsy’ we went back out to see a jazz/soul group that was part of the buskers festival. That night saw a lovely steak at the local pub to where me and Mark were staying and a few after hours drinks back at Stonehurst so we had to order Dad and Sandra a taxi home!!
The next few days we went to the Botanical gardens which were beautiful and Mark got very arty with his photography!! We then took a day trip into the banks peninsular to visit Akeroa. It is a little French town with most of its buildings in French style and the roads have French names. This is because it was originally a French settlement. It has some beautiful scenery and an icy harbour. The drive down the harbour and out again was just beautiful. Its not very far from Christchurch so very able to do in a leisurely day trip.
As Mark and I had been in Christchurch now for 10 days we needed to move on and after 4 days Dad and Sandra were ready to go as well so onward to New Brighton.
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