After having lived in Australia for several years, I finally
made the trip over to New Zealand. With only a week off from work, it would
have been too frantic to see both the North and South Islands, so Hayden and I
decided to base ourselves in Christchurch on the South Island, where a friend
of his is working. I have always associated New Zealand with mountains and
greenery, but another image will always stay with me after having visited
Christchurch: the utter devastation caused by the February 2011 earthquake,
which is still obvious after four years. The city is known for its abundance of
old stone churches, but I was sad to see so many of the old buildings
surrounded by chain link fences and tall grass, deemed unsafe to enter until
insurance companies come through with payments.
The Cathedral, which is missing an entire wall
There are shipping containers all over the city, with some
being used to prop up buildings. Others are being used as makeshift shops and
cafes. We spent a couple of hours walking all over the city, and while some
sections appear to have been abandoned, every so often we would come across
pockets where there are actually still people. Hagley Park and the botanic
gardens are massive and located right in the middle of the city, and it’s
almost possible to forget there ever was an earthquake while walking through.
Shipping containers being used for structural support
We wanted to get outdoors in New Zealand, and Akaroa was a
beautiful day trip out of the city. Akaroa is situated on a harbor, with some
of the bluest water I have ever seen. It was a hot day, so I went for a swim
out to a pontoon in the harbor and watched kids jumping off the docks. I was
covered in a chalky substance after my swim, which I suspect was some kind of
mineral that gives the water its distinctive color.
The road leading down to Akaroa
Akaroa
Akaroa
One other highlight was a couple of nights spent at Hanmer
Springs. The hot spring is only a couple of hours from Christchurch, and
completely surrounded by mountains. It didn’t take long to walk around the
entire town, and I visited their tiny library to check my email. After that, we
spent most of the time soaking in the hot pools or drinking Tui (probably my favorite
Kiwi beer that I tried).
View from the main road in Hanmer Springs
View from the top of Conical Hill, a short hike outside of
town.
After that it was one more night in Christchurch (and a few
scary moments dealing with Immigration at the airport) before I was on a plane
back to Australia. I would love to go back to New Zealand and spend a bit more
time driving around both islands.
