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Mount Cook We drove along the road towards Mount Cook stopping at Lake Tekapo for a brief look. There was a cute little church right at the lakes edge that was fab! We finally arrived in Mount Cook, which is NZ’s largest mountain, with the view of it and the surrounding mountains literally astonishing. We meandered along the road just in time to see the sun slide down slowly behind the white tipped mountains and we were excited that it was so big! There is no doubt about it we were impressed. We took a drive around the village there – a strange place that blends into the background because all the buildings are painted in a camouflage colour. It’s cool that it doesn’t interrupt the look of the valley in any way. At this point it was too late for tourist information but we knew what track we were going to walk the next day so off we went to sleep at the foot of these spectacular mountains! As it got dark, it wasn’t really dark because the snow on top of these gigantic hills just lit up the sky above, it was like having a night light! We
were pretty chuffed with the views around us, It really is cool to be able to sleep in such beautiful, out of the way places.
Unfortunately for us and the 25 or so other cars/campers around as the night progressed the rain started and it didn’t stop. Non-stop for maybe 14 hours and long after that. The clouds descended and you could no longer see the beauty above. When we got up in the morning, the walk on the track was out of the question L We were very lucky to have seen the beauty of the valley the day before because had we arrived the following day we would have had clouds to look at! So we just headed on, in the direction of Christchurch, for our final few days in NZ.
Akaroa On the road to Christchurch we decided to make a final detour. That’s the beauty of the camper, you can just make a decision while driving rather than always having to know when and where you are going. It really is a great way to travel and something I will consider back in Europe for holidays!
So our detour took us to
the quaint, pretty town of Akaroa, some 80kms or so from Christchurch, on a little peninsula. The decision to come here was obviously spontaneous and the road was definitely a bit of the same. It was full of turns and twists but with scenery to make it all worthwhile. I don’t know if John agreed with me, it was a bit tough to drive I reckon. We meandered through little bays, up hills, down hills, through valleys to finally reach what is a little piece of France in NZ. This is where French settlers first arrived in NZ some 200 years after the British but they stayed and definitely made an impact. The town is compact, colonial and meets a bay of yachts with hills in the background. It is a quiet wee place and a nice escape from the city I would say.
We stayed in a motor camp that overlooked the bay, joined by a Catholic College group of students who were a bit loud but it was a nice evening in a remote and alternative location!
Christchurch So it was hard to believe but we made it to our final stop on our journey
around NZ. The spaceship had just a bit of mileage clocked up at about 3684kms in 28days! We definitely squeezed in so much while we were here and Christchurch was a sad ending to it all. As we dropped off the spaceship there were two earthquakes (which we didn’t feel at all, John may have been slightly disappointed). No damage or anything of the sort, thankfully. But what the recent earthquakes have done to this city really did shock me and I can’t comprehend what it must be like in less developed countries who have to deal with Mother Nature’s acts similar to this.
So I did no reading up on the earthquakes here but know as much as anyone at home would, there were one or two big ones and there were deaths and lots of damage to the city centre. We didn’t have anywhere booked to stay so as we drove from Akaroa, I did a search quickly online. All the hostels had statements like “we are ok still after the earthquakes” or “still operational”. There were hardly any to choose from though. I pulled out the lonely planet and called out some names to John (we
had pulled over; he wasn’t typing and driving folks). So many of them were closed, pictures of the remains of what was a popular lodging place for backpackers just a while ago. We found one that sounded interesting – Jailhouse. It was still up and running, had good reviews, was a bit pricey but the best from the choices there. So we popped in and booked our cell for two nights! This was the most positive thing about Christchurch. Staying in Jail!!
When we went to the city to have a look around, I can only describe it as like something from a zombie or end of the world movie. The whole city centre is cordoned off, the buildings are fractured, the streets are empty, and the life and soul of this city is dead. It was eerie and I couldn’t believe it. So whereas before the Jailhouse where we were staying was considered a bit far from town – this suburb is now one of the main parts of town. The city centre has moved away and there is no hub where people meet, the cathedral on which the city is named was being demolished brick by brick
while we were there. With this were protests about demolishing it and about selling the so called assets in the desolate city centre. This literally is a city torn apart, shaken (and continues to be shaken) by not only the works of nature but the aftermath of how to recover and move on from such a disaster.
We were saddened to say the least and had a few talks about what would we do if we lived here, would you give it all up and move to somewhere else? After all the earthquakes continue, the city centre will more than likely not be rebuilt as it is on poor land and Christchurch is right on a major fault line. I think if I lived here I would be making plans to move on. I couldn’t see how it will regain what it had (and this is me presuming it had what other large cities have, a main point, landmark, and a meeting place – a heart to keep it flowing). The one positive I suppose is the inventive shopping area that has been developed near to the restriction area. It is called REstart Mall and all the shops are
based in shipping containers! Very inventive indeed and it was good to see that the locals have made an attempt to revamp some of the city centre.
Christchurch was such a contrast to all the other places we visited in NZ that we did find it hard here. But then it was caused by a natural force here in the country that provided us with so many other positive experiences from crossing through volcanoes, to caving with glow-worms, to hiking on glaciers, to swinging through deep valleys, to coasting along fiords, to diving into the depths, to watching penguins surf in to feed chicks. I suppose that’s when I had to see that you have to take the bad with the good and I hope that one day Christchurch will rebuild itself whether it will be in the same location or a bit further away or just sprawled into the suburbs!
Another month down and onto the next adventure, our 9 weeks in South America is upon us. What a ride these almost 4 months have been……
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