Christchurch

Driving to Christchurch we got our first sight of the Southern Alps, the range is much larger than the European Alps much longer but not as high.

We drove down the coast and there were a lot of seal colony’s right beside the road.

Coming into town we saw the aftermath of the 2 earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011, the 2^nd quake was not as severe as the 1^st but occurred directly under the City Centre and was very shallow at about 10 kms, causing much more damage. There were many roads closed and many plots completely cleared where all the buildings had been demolished. There were also other sites where the damage was severe but for various reasons the decision as to what to do had not yet been taken.

The National War Memorial was closed off since it was leaning and the bridge it was built on had a lot of cracks.

The central shopping area was very badly hit (apart from one store) and they had set up a project called Re:Start using containers as shops, apparently this was a British idea, the site is absolutely brilliant and trade is really good, more containers were being prepared when we were there.

On the way to the hotel we passed the holey church were the main structure was sound but everything else was badly damaged, it is being restored unless they change their mind which happens often.

Just before the earthquakes the city had spent millions updating the Tram system, it cannot run now, but I would hope that they do reinstate in the future.

We are back in Christchurch at the end of our tour and will be going round the town to look at the effects of the earthquakes in more detail.