My bus to Kaikoura wasn't to leave until 4 p.m. so, I stored my bags at the hostel and wandered the city. Christchurch has recently been in the news because in September 2010, the city was hit with a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. There was widespread damage including broken windows, chimneys fallen, buildings condemned and deemed unsafe. Fortunately, there were no fatalities and limited injuries. The city has been hit daily with hundreds of aftershocks. The most significant day of aftershocks was on Boxing Day, December 26, 2010. The damage continued and many businesses have been forced to close operations because the buildings are not safe. The earthquakes aftermath was evident throughout the city. There is a lot of construction and reconstruction happening here.
Despite the earthquake damage, the city seams to be operating business as usual. I went to the beautiful botanical gardens and the main cathedral square where all the shops are extremely touristy. The city has a river that lazily rolls through it. It is called the River Avon and you can take a leisurely punting cruise on the river, through the botanic gardens. It's nice here and I am sure will be even nicer once they get the buildings, streets and sidewalks back in order.
I went back to the hostel and Benjamin, a very nice guy I met there offered to give me a ride into the city to catch my bus. This ride was MUCH appreciated because I was not looking forward to hiking back into the city with my bags! I was off to Kaikoura, a relatively short bus ride - 2 1/2 hours. When I arrived, again I had to hike up a hill - boy I am getting some excercise here! I checked in and headed back down the hill. I grabbed some food - a big burger - Oh yeah...! The burgers are pretty good, they use beet root like we use tomato on a burger. I didn't think I'd care for it, but it's actually pretty good! It was time for bed because I had to wake up extremely early the next day!
Informational side note: Boxing Day is December 26, the day after Christmas, and is celebrated in Great Britain and in most areas settled by the English (the U.S. is the major exception), including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. One theory of its origin is that the boxes placed in churches where parishioners deposited coins for the poor were opened and the contents distributed on December 26. Another theory is that the holiday developed because servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with gift boxes. So, Boxing Day in reality has nothing to do with the celebration of knocking someone out! Who knew???
1 comment:
Wow, less than 3 weeks later & Christchurch was hit with a 6.3 earthquake. The tower of the Christ Church was heavily damaged - you got a really good picture of it. - Theresa
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