Today was the day I would finally get to Christchurch and should have been my final stop with the magic bus but Vale said he would take me up to Kaikoura and I would just have to get a different bus back down which was really nice of him.
Anyway, we get to Christchurch and the first thing I noticed was how uneven most of the roads are and how many are just closed off altogether (for anyone reading who's been hiding under a rock, Christchurch had several earthquakes last year including a devastating one in the February which killed around 180 people.)
Vale dropped us off by the museum and gave us a couple of hours to look around and then he'd come back for us: the three of us headed to what was now the city centre and as you looked around there was constant empty lots and devastation.
We got to the city centre and the majority of the shops were empty and now they have a container mall; which is basically coffee shops, banks and little outlets that have been built out of shipping containers and they're all different colours. It's really sad that the reason behind them is that they got destroyed in the earthquake but it's actually a really ingenious idea and they even had competitions for the best shops, I loved it, it looks so cool!
Then we walked to the 'red zone', this is where the whole city centre is closed off as its either too dangerous or they're rebuilding the area and it was pretty surreal and sad to think that people died in this and thousand of people have either had their house or work destroyed. We walked round to where the remainder of their Cathedral is and then decided to head out of town because it just made you feel guilty for looking at all this devastation in a 'tourist-y' way.
Next stop was the Christchurch museum, where they had some really cool pieces of history and information AND I got to sit on a penny farthing, not sure if I'd done that before but it was pretty awesome. After all the history of Christchurch/New Zealand there was a whole room all about the earthquakes with some of the statues that had been destroyed, items that were donated to raise money, earthquake simulations and loads of bits about the help and rescues they'd received. It was a really moving but interesting room and we had to rush back to the bus so I missed bits but I might try go back when I'm here in a few days.
After this, we got dropped at our hostel which was really nice and cosy and we hung out with the Irish girls and watched a bit of tv before Alice's family came to pick her up because she was staying with them for a week in Christchurch.
Then me and Lucy ate a cheeky dominos, showered and got ready for the pub; in the end it was just myself, Lucy and Vale who went to the pub as the Irish girls weren't ready. It was a really cute pub but was ABSOLUTELY packed, to the point where you were being constantly pushed and couldn't even talk to each other and drinks were expensive!!
So we had one drink, went back to the hostel, spent a few hours chatting to Siobhan and Ruth; two of the Irish girls then I passed out in bed ready to leave for Kaikoura the next day.