Christchurch

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Suzanne here...

We've been looking forward to the New Zealand part of the trip since before we'd even booked the tickets. So we were very excited on our flight to Christchurch. The flight was uneventful and we got the number 3 bus into town which took about 20 minutes.

The first thing that struck us was the earthquake damage. We'd heard about the earthquake back in September, but thought things would be back to normal by now. Well, they are really, but there are still lots of buildings that are damaged and too dangerous to enter. Bit of a surprise really, but then it was a 7.1 quake. How nobody died I can't imagine.

So far, the climate in New Zealand is suiting us down to the ground. Lovely and warm but not uncomfortably hot. Good camping weather. Whilst in Christchurch we're equipping ourselves with all we need to camp over the next couple of months. We've bought the tent ($116 in K-mart, about £60). We'll go back as soon as we have the hire car and get all the bedding, chairs, kitchen stuff etc that we need too.

However, for now we are staying in the City Central Motel. We almost thought there had been a mistake when we arrived. At $123 (£60) a night it's more than we'd normally pay but we needed a treat, and it's very good value for what you get. A modern, clean, spacious studio with a little kitchenette. Absolute luxury after the hostels we've been in. The large plasma TV has Sky Movies. We love travelling, really we do, but recently we have been missing the home comforts of sitting on a sofa with a beer and pizza watching a film. So, we've been taking full advantage of the chance to do that here. Watched a few films, the best being Whip It! which we really enjoyed.

As well as slobbing around on the sofa and shopping for camping stuff we have managed to visit the Christchurch art gallery and the museum, both well worth a visit. We've also had a good look around the town, and the botanical gardens which are lovely.

Apart from takeaways, we have been out for a couple of meals. The best, surprisingly, was a curry at Shamiana, just a cheapo food stall in the Westfield Riccarton mall. Really tasty curry, rice, naan and a drink for only $12.50 (£6), a real bargain and absolutely delicious.

I feel this is a bit of a boring blog and I'm sure Christchurch has more excitement to offer, but for us, right now, all we want to do is relax and enjoy this nice laid-back little city and our comfy room.

Not sure how often we'll be able to get online whilst we're camping, so the next blog might not be for a while.

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Photos

Christchurch
Outside the council office

Christchurch
Botanical Gardens

Christchurch
Botanical Gardens

Christchurch
Botanical Gardens

Comments

[Tim]

so...
...please tell us you weren't in your tent anywhere near Christchurch the other day? We were there 11 months ago, and looking at the pictures of the cathedral falling down has been quite upsetting. It's a nice town. Quite unsettling to punch in here to catch up on your travels and to see that this is your last entry... I hope you're just out in the Southern Alps somewhere away from the internet, but hoping you're both okay.

[SuzanneandDavid]

Safe and Sound
Hi Tim, Good to hear from you. We are fine, on the other side of the island when the quake hit. We only found out about it a few days ago and it was quite shocking. We are having a good time, just away from PC's so much now that we haven't got time to blog, which is good as we're off doing stuff. Thanks for the concern. David