Dude - where's my shoes?

On the road out of Hamilton we had a a few steps to get to our next destination of Christchurch:

1. Find our way to the hotel at Auckland airport,
2. Back to Auckland city centre to say goodbye to the van,
3. Back to the hotel for any early night,
4. Up at 5am for our flight to Christchurch,
5. Get from Christchurch airport to the hostel,
6. Settle in at the hostel.

Step 1 went off without a hitch and we arrive and checked into our swanky hotel compete with crisp white sheets, fluffy towels and organic soap. Unfortunately as we were unpacking the van I noticed that something was missing.

Dude - where's my shoes?

The van was empty but my walking boots were nowhere to be seen and I had a very clear vision of them on the floor under the bed back in Hamilton. We definitely had no time to go back for them as the van had to be returned in an hour, so I said a quiet goodbye and we fired up the van for one last time.

After a minor detour (it turns out there are two beach roads in Auckland) we made it back to the Escape depot and said fair well to the van (we had seen 31 other Escape vans while we were on the road). After a spot of lunch at a delicious veggie chinese we headed back to hotel. We relaxed the evening away reading and enjoying a garlic face mask.

Very sleepy (but with lovery skin) we navigated our way to Auckland domestic terminal then enjoyed our short hop to Christchurch. It was a very short hop, about an hour (we actually spent more time waiting at the airport than in the air)! Once we had found our way out of the airport and to the bus stops we were in Christchurch city centre in 20 minutes.

The fence runs all the way round central Christchurch

All of the images on the news and internet can't really prepare you for seeing a city with no centre! The whole area that used to be central Christchurch is currently shut off and there are cranes, diggers and trucks moving about all day securing, demolishing or clearing the area. Some of the areas now look like vacant lots while on other streets that work has hardly started and you can see into homes and businesses where a wall is missing. After a rather depressing trek around this area to get to the hostel (Step 5 on the list nearly there) we found that although the city is missing big bits a lot of people are still here and getting on with it. Finally step 6 - The brightly painted Chester Street Backpackers is full of people and activity, the rooms are clean and bright as is the communal kitchen and the lounge area is very cosy (added bonus for Aimee there is yet another cat).

We spent Thursday afternoon wandering round the beautiful Hagley Park and finish off the day at an English style pub with a Fish and Fries supper.

It is hard to imagine the destruction as you wonder through the blossom in Hagley park

Aimee is rather fond of trees

The peace bell feels very fitting

Friday morning was very lazy but we eventually got up to a package with our names on it, some what surprised we opened it to find inside one pair of walking shoes size 9 with very familiar scuffs! A massive thank you again Glen and Fleur not sure how you pulled it off! From there the day only got better as we went to check out Canterbury Museum. The museum has some great exhibits on Maori life before the Europeans arrived and on early European settler life. A particular highlight was the reconstruction of Fred and Myrle's Paua house, this has to been seen to be appreciated - words fail me!

This does not do the house justice!

As I write this we are headed back there now to get another look at the house and checkout that Antarctic exhibits we missed yesterday. Our next post will likely be from Singapore so I will wish everyone well I have some whales to check out.

Ps.

Malcolm a special note for you - at the museum we spotted this shinny motor bike, turns out it was ridden by Speedway legend Ivan Mauger and was gold plated by Orange County Metal Processing in the USA after he won 3 championships. 

Triple Crown Special