We left a cold and wet Dunedin yesterday morning to travel north. While I packed expecting a New Zealand summer, I had not studied the map enough to realise that places we were travelling were South of the bottom of Tasmania! Any wonder my wardrobe was largely inappropriate.
We stopped off at the Moeraki Boulders, a beach that has large sea stones with amazing fault lines through them. It was raining here so not a pleasant walk along the beach. We continued our drive north to stop at Oamaru, a lovely town with old buildings along the port area and a wide Main Street not unlike something we'd see in Bendigo or Ballarat.
From Oamaru we continued North to Timaru and then on to Christchurch. The weather improved as we headed north and was 28 degrees by the time we got to Christchurch. This drive had taken us close to 7 hours - further than I had imagined.
We are staying in another B&B and our host directed us to local shops where we walked and took our fish and chips into the park for dinner.
This morning we headed into the city and onto a city tour bus. We were amazed to learn that 1700 of the 2250 building that were in Christchurch before the 2011 earthquake will be or have been demolished. There are still many buildings that show the damage - Christchurch Cathedral, other old buildings and some bridges. There is a temporary memorial to the 185 people who lost their lives - White chairs in rows in a 185 square metre plot. We got on a city circle tram and stopped off at the ReStart Mall that is built totally out of shipping containers. It was a vibrant spot to stop and enjoy some lunch. We also drove up to the gondola to get a view over the city. The day was a bit hazy but there was still lots to see.