Kiwi As

Day 410

Queenstown to Christchurch

Mt. Cook :: Kiwi As.

Very long, and boring, journey from Queenstown to Christchurch. The Canterbury Plains are very flat compaired to the Remarkables are the Southern Alpes. Clearly I've been spoilt rotten with scenery!

I had a bit of difficulty finding a hostel in Christchurch, I hadn't booked anything because I just hadn't appreciated that most of the big hostels had been damaged in the earthquake.

Once I'd found a place to stay, myself and some new friends walked towards the centre. It is the saddest place in the world, it literally feels like the heart of the city has been torn out. There is a huge fence preventing access to the centre, and you can see where all the bars, hotels and businesses used to be. All of these 2,000 odd buildings will have to be rebuilt. Many of the busenesses outside the red zone are struggling to stay open too, because many of the residents are moving away and nobody really visits Christchurch anymore, it feels like people just pass through. A lot of the builings damaged were actually very old builings, by kiwi standards, and are very beautiful stone structures. Sadly it is likely that the cathedral will have to be totally demolished and rebuilt. They think it will take 20 years to rebuild and redesign the centre, I just hope that the city can hold on that long.