The internet connection at Christchurch has let us down so I will publish without photos and hopefully will add these when we get to Akaroa.
Well we survived the very cold night and in truth were very warm in our comfortable camper van bed. However, the local weather forecast did say that the temperature dipped to -2C overnight an when we awoke the camper van temperature gauge showed 3C. Why was very apparent when we saw that the surrounding mountains all had a fresh covering on snow on the peaks and as we left Hanmer Springs, the views were fabulous.
First stop today was at Amberley, Canterbury to purchase a reasonable supply of cakes and ginger slices as the LLW had been alarmed by news of shortages of such necessities south of Christchurch. Well stocked we headed south to visit out friends Miles, Emma and Ruari Hockley who live at 286 Isaac Road, just off South Eyre Road which is south of Rangiora. The problem is that distances are quite long here and South Eyre Road is very, very long and 286 Isaac Road does not give an impression about how far along Isaac Road is their lovely property. However, we arrived there not too late even though we were slightly later than usual in leaving Hanmer Springs because there was an unseemly battle over who was to get up first to make the tea (and of course brave the cold). I'm not sure why I every bother competing as there is only ever one winner.
We had a lovely few hours with the Hockleys and were of course amazed at how Ruari had grown since we last saw him. He is now a handsome and very articulate 17 year old young man. Emma produced a lovely fish lunch accompanied by excellent NZ Sauvignon Blanc and it was really good to catch up with them.
On then for the few miles into Christchurch and we quickly found our camp site and settled in. I think the LLW had ideas of a quiet afternoon but Ray had other plans and once again the bikes were deployed. We cycled about 10 miles into and around Christchurch mostly along a cycle track which has been built immediately alongside a railway line and then through the beautiful Hagley Park into the centre.
Some of you may remember that on our first visit to Christchurch in 2010 we were photographed in front of Christchurch's cathedral just three weeks before the devastating earthquake killed so many people and destroyed the cathedral. On a subsequent visit we saw that there was a lot to be done but this time we were dismayed to see how much was still laid to waste. It seemed to us that even more buildings were being rebuilt and can only conclude that many more had been declared unsafe and needed to be destroyed. I thought about taking photos but it just seemed too sad.
Well we survived the very cold night and in truth were very warm in our comfortable camper van bed. However, the local weather forecast did say that the temperature dipped to -2C overnight an when we awoke the camper van temperature gauge showed 3C. Why was very apparent when we saw that the surrounding mountains all had a fresh covering on snow on the peaks and as we left Hanmer Springs, the views were fabulous.
We had a lovely few hours with the Hockleys and were of course amazed at how Ruari had grown since we last saw him. He is now a handsome and very articulate 17 year old young man. Emma produced a lovely fish lunch accompanied by excellent NZ Sauvignon Blanc and it was really good to catch up with them.
On then for the few miles into Christchurch and we quickly found our camp site and settled in. I think the LLW had ideas of a quiet afternoon but Ray had other plans and once again the bikes were deployed. We cycled about 10 miles into and around Christchurch mostly along a cycle track which has been built immediately alongside a railway line and then through the beautiful Hagley Park into the centre.
Some of you may remember that on our first visit to Christchurch in 2010 we were photographed in front of Christchurch's cathedral just three weeks before the devastating earthquake killed so many people and destroyed the cathedral. On a subsequent visit we saw that there was a lot to be done but this time we were dismayed to see how much was still laid to waste. It seemed to us that even more buildings were being rebuilt and can only conclude that many more had been declared unsafe and needed to be destroyed. I thought about taking photos but it just seemed too sad.
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