Blogs from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 9

It seems my whole dorm, bar one annoying girl, is on the move today as various alarms go off in the dark room and torches start flickering. If she'd been moving on too we could have put the main light on! Something New Zealand hostels don't do very well is lighting. None of them have the little individual bunk night lights that are a godsend in such situations. Actually one did, but they were so bright as to render them useless. I give myself loads of time to walk down to the Intercity bus stop and it's just as well I do as I'm able to spot my Dunedin bus go sailing past the end of the road I'm waiting on and drive at least three blocks further down the main road. Shit, they must have ... read more

Par Sylvain: Après une première semaine passée chez Ida et Sven aux alentours de Christchurch pour les aider en repeignant le plafond de leur église, nous profitons du beau temps du weekend pour aller faire un tour sur la « Banks Peninsula » à l’est de la ville. C’est une péninsule de quelques dizaines de kilomètres, parsemée de petites baies aux plages tranquilles qui nous rappellent la région des Marlborough sounds où nous étions avant. Il y a là le village d’Akaroa qui a appartenu aux mains des français pendant une année dans le passé, et qui, aujourd’hui, cultive cette french touch pour attirer les touristes ! De retour à la ferme, un nouveau travail nous attend pour cette semaine : la traite des 1000 vaches de l’exploitation ! Entre autres tâches de la ferme, ma ... read more

A city that was hit by a hard earthquake and is still in the process of rebuilding. You can see what we're grand buildings there with substantial damage still awaiting a decision to be rebuilt or demolished. The city Catholic cathedral being a prime example, how nobody died in that building is a minor mirical. The city are trying hard to re generate and there a good plans in place to create a great city centre, but it all takes time and money. The Botanical Gardens look a nice place to roam, but is obviously weather dependant. Unfortunately we had a typical English summer day (wet) and never got to explore it to its full. A god spot to visit is just out of town, Sumner and New Brighton with a good beach and surfers to ... read more

Dogsitting now in Lincoln just outside of Christchurch. Interesting as the English bulldog has a tendency to sulk then hide in the garden. The mastif reminds me of scooby doo. Yesterday drove over to Akaroa about an hour away. Gorgeous little place, very French..the drive was very precarious going over the tops, at times 25kmh round the bends. But the views were tremendous. Went into the lighthouse, this was dismantled from the heads and transported to Akaora, there is a windup mechanism to turn the light around 360 degree. Quite fascinating. Then jumped on a sailing boat for a couple of hours. This boat was built for the Americas Cup in 1946, and its class won 4 of the 6 races entered. The skipper allowed us to steer and captain the boat. Managed to spot a ... read more

So I arrived in Christchurch very late in the evening and luckily Leanne came and picked me and took me back to hers which will be my base till just after new years. Lying on the east coast of New Zealands South island between the southern alps and the pacific its just beautiful here but the the damage from the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and still very present with most of the city center still full of buildings waiting to get demolished and with some parts of it in stages of being rebuilt. The Cathedral the pride and joy of the city is still in ruins and a very sad sight. Today we went to Akaroa a small town on the other side of banks peninsula we went out sailing and saw the hector dolphine ... read more