Christchurch: Apr 7

In February 2011, Christchurch was hit with, yet another, massive earthquake. This earthquake was so strong that the city prone to earthquakes fell to the ground. 185 people lost their lives and thousands more lost their homes and businesses. Walking through Christchurch, I got mixed feelings. I was walking through the business area, not the housing area so I couldn't help but think about how many businesses were forced to shut down because of the earthquake damage and how many more were forced to shutdown as a result of most citizens moving out of Christchurch. On the other hand, I saw indications that a strong community remained. Construction fencing was decorated with colorful pieces of art. I saw many signs and buildings indicating that, slowly but surely, the city was rebuilding. Maybe I just got this vibe because I'm rather optimistic but I also felt like the city saw this as an opportunity to make the layout how they wanted it to be. Put buildings, roads, parking lots and parks where they want them to be. Sure, its expensive but how many cities wish they had this kind of a chance?

Later on in the hostel I watched When A City Falls, a powerful movie about the earthquake. Among many other things, I learned from this movie that since the February 2011 earthquake, Christchurch has had more than 7,600 smaller earthquakes and aftershocks. More than ever before, I appreciated my home back in Canada.

 

Christchurch was built around this Cathedral in the 1800s

Based on testimonials in the movie, many members of the congregation struggled to retain hope after seeing their building be declared a 'red zone' (unsafe to enter). Recently, they set up a temporary worship building which they have named "Cardboard Cathedral".

One of the many buildings being built

I stayed in the jailhouse again and this is what a cell used to look like when it was used as a jail instead of as a hostel 

Lake Tekapo: Apr 6

After adventurous Queenstown, a relaxing day by the lake sounds perfect. I guess mother nature didn't agree because she decided that it should pour rain. Due to the rain, I don't have many pictures from Lake Tekapo and didn't get a chance to do any of the walks around the lake but I imagine they would have been absolutely beautiful.

 

This statue is in honor of the dogs who are up in the mountains keeping the sheep where they should be. Since the area owned by each farm is so big and it would require far too much fencing to keep the sheep in, they use dogs instead. Dogs are tied to posts along the property line and bark at the sheep whenever they get near, keeping the sheep inside the property. Don't worry, the dogs are fed regularly by the farmers.

Queenstown: Apr 3 - 5

Queenstown is known as the Adventure Capital of the Word because there are so many adrenaline filled activities to take part in, including bungee jumping, skydiving and luging. Since I wasn't allowed to bungee jump but didn't want to leave Queenstown without trying something crazy, I did the Nevis Swing. This is the largest Swing in the world with a 70m free fall at the beginning followed by a 300m arc! It was absolutely insane and I still get nervous every time I watch the video. The guy strapping my friend Jamie and I in (I could never do it alone) kept joking about how it was his first day and saying he's not sure where the clips should go which didn't help calm me down any. I screamed for the entire first swing but luckily stopped after that. Unfortunately, I can't upload the video just yet because the file size is too big but I'll fix that once I'm home.

We also took a day trip and cruise to the beautiful Milford Sounds which was carved out by glaciers and has a ton of waterfalls when it's raining but only two when its not. We did a luge track, drank alcohol from teapots and ate a fergburger while there. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful 3 days!

 

The moment when the operator released us and the free fall began

 

 This is where the video will be, but that will have to wait until I am home and can make the video file size small enough for BlogSpot to allow me to upload it.



On our way to Milford Sound, we stopped to see a waterfall. It rains so much there that all the trees are covered in moss

On the Milford Sound boat cruise

 

I wanted a picture with the waterfall...

...but didn't realize how wet it would make me!

The Milford Crew

The view from the gondola at the top of the city

Luge Time!

The whole time, I was thinking about how Alex, Matthew and Steven would absolutely love doing this as well!

Mirror lakes

I'm always amazed by the mountains disappearing into the clouds

Franz Joseph Glacier: Apr 1 - 2

With all the ice and cold, it felt just like I was back home again! I was an Ice Explorer for the morning and got to take a helicopter to the glacier (it is no longer safe to walk) and then went for a 3 hour hike. The pictures will never capture how incredible the glacier was, but I tried. I spent the afternoon warming up in the hot pools and competed in killer pool and limbo competitions at night to try and win a bungee jump. Unfortunately, I didn't win so no bungee for me.

 

A deep crack in the glacier caused by water melting

Taking a sip of nice, cold, clean glacier water :)

Our guide carving out the stairs

Every day, each guide that goes through the glacier has to carve out the stairs because the glacier moves so much on a daily basis!

The Ice Exploring Crew

Part of the path we had to walk through

Westport: Mar 31

We arrived in Westport pretty late in the afternoon so we just relaxed and went to the beach for a bonfire. There was so much driftwood on the beach, we had no trouble finding firewood! The next morning, we got up bright and early to go for a nice walk. It reminded me of what I imagine Ireland would look like which was ironic because I did the walk with my new Irish friend. It's amazing being able to see the coast every day like this!

 

My Irish friend, Niamh (or Nieve as I spell it) and I

 

Blowholes where the water comes crashing in and out

 

Upside down teapots hanging from the ceiling where we stopped for lunch 

Kaiteriteri: Mar 29 - 30

Kaiteriteri is located on the edge of Abel Tasman National Park and is ideal for anyone who wants to do some hiking, camping or kayaking, so we did just that! We took an aqua taxi into the National Park and enjoyed an hour long hike through the forest with some beautiful lookout points. Kaiteriteri was also neat because of the extreme tides. When we arrived in the afternoon it was close to low tide and when we hopped on the aqua taxi in the morning, it was high tide and there was such a difference!

 

A colony of fur seals on the drive between Kaikoura and Kaiteriteri

 

Low tide in the evening...

 

High tide the following morning

(In the picture above, I was standing where that river now is)

 

One of the lookout spots from the hike

 

Split Rock

(This happened naturally)

A few more of the many breathtaking lookouts