On to Middle Earth

After leaving Betty at the Apollo depot we head to the airport for our flight to Wellington.  Although the flight is delayed we make up loads of time with a strong tail wind and are only in the air for about 25 minutes, with a very gusty landing which Mrs M loved.

When we land we are met by John (we are staying with Ann & John again in Wellington) and we are welcomed into Middle Earth.  The whole airport is decked out with massive Hobbit paraphernalia as it was the Hobbit world premiere in Wellington yesterday.  As we drive through the city there are still loads of Hobbit creatures left over from the premiere.

Once we get back to Ann & John’s we are soon cheered up after our glum morning, and enjoy telling our adventure stories from our time exploring the South Island.  We again enjoy John’s excellent roast chicken dinner and then time for bed as all our adventures have caught up with us!

Mr & Mrs M

The Last Goodbye

We awake this morning not believing our campervan trip is almost over.  We pack up the last of our belongings, sort out the items that we can leave at the campsite and give Betty a final clean down.   

The Christchurch campsite is unlike any other we have been to.  It is extremely busy, but most significantly has a gloomy sad atmosphere.  To put this in perspective the majority of the other campsites have been hugely friendly, lots of laughter and happy faces.  At Christchurch there are silences in the kitchen, its very quiet and no one is smiling – everyone has come to the end of their trips too and are feeling as bad as we do.  In the kitchen there are piles everywhere of food stuffs and other practical items labelled – ‘Free to good home, leaving today’.   

Mrs M leaves the badminton set, not herself for a good home...

As we go into the kitchen to do our final washing up it is awful – I notice they even have a big box of tissues on one of the benches – they are obviously well prepared.

We can’t believe how much of a brilliant time we have had – especially after our infamous first day where we got stuck in the mud.  Neither of us though we would last the full 8 weeks without having to have an emergency stay in a B&B when we had totally had enough of camping.  Conversely we have loved every single second and would recommend it to anyone – we have even investigated the possibility of getting our own campervan when we return home!

At 10am, campsite check out time we take our final pictures with Betty and then it is time.  It's time to power down for the last time and make the final drive to the Apollo drop off centre near to the airport.   

We are met by the friendly Apollo ladies who again must be used to emotional goodbyes to campervans and RVs – again ample supply of tissues in the office!  We say our final goodbye to Betty before giving her keys back to Apollo and doing the handover paperwork and then its time to go to the airport.

Goodbye Betty – you have given us the trip of a lifetime!  

Mrs M

The rest of our final day

We head for a cuppa to reflect on what we have seen on the red zone tour and then head to the botanical gardens for an explore as the weather is still sunny.  We discover the most amazing rose garden in full bloom and it is absolutely beautiful – we are also please to discover our own ‘David Austin Gertrude Jekyll’ rose in the garden.

After the botanical gardens we go for an explore of the Canterbury Museum.  Unfortunately only part of it is currently open due to the new building requlations for emergency exit ways following the earthquakes, but we are pleased to discover the Natural History Musuem’s ‘Scott's Last Expedition’ exhibition is newly opened there, and having just missed it in London we are excited to see it.

We have an early finish to our day after the museum as it is time to get Betty back to the campsite to get packed up and get ready for tomorrow.  We are both very sad to be leaving Betty and our last meal in her is a fairly subdued affair of pasta and sauce.  Neither of us can believe the best 8 weeks ever are finally coming to an end, but we are pleased to do one final happy thing for Betty – the naming ceremony, in order to ensure that Betty’s passengers going forward know that her name is Betty!!!

Mrs M

Into the Red Zone

We are up early today and head straight into the city to have breakfast in the Re:START Mall before going on the early morning bus tour into the Red Zone.  This tour takes you through the cordoned off area of the city which is now a major demolition /construction site.  The tours are very popular with locals and tourists alike wanting to understand the nature of the destruction which had occurred, but also and much more positively to understand what the plans were for the rebuild of the city and what construction works were already underway.  We had been very lucky to get on the tour as this was the only slot available for 2 days.

We head off on the bus with a really lovely and enthusiastic guide from the Christchurch Museum.  We are told that the current red zone is now much smaller than that in the immediate aftermath of the February 2011 earthquake, due to the intensive building inspection and demolition works which have already been undertaken.  Before entering the current red zone we drive through some of these areas and see a clock tower where the clock is frozen at 12.50pm – the time the earthquake occurred.   

We pass the site of the CTVbuilding where the greatest loss of life occurred and see a very moving and respectful tribute to the people who died there.  A series of white chairs had been placed in an adjacent site.  All the chairs were completely different and individual to represent each individual person that died in the building.  

It is a very moving tribute.

We enter the current red zone and are immediately struck by the amount of work being undertaken all around us.  Buildings are being demolished, construction waste is being crushed, screened and stockpiled for reuse, and new foundations were being constructed.  

There is a total hive of activity and it reminds me of the early days on the Olympic Park where so many different workstreams were being undertaken at the one time in a relatively small area.  There is a really positive feel to the work being undertaken to rebuild the city.  We see further art installations, the site of the new cardboard cathedral and areas where park land as re-opened following the effects of liquefaction.  Even nearly 2 years on the extend of the damage is still stark in some areas and we understand that decisions are still to be made on some of the building in the city centre as to whether they are required to be pulled down.  One of these and very sadly is the Cathedral Building which was one of the building highlights in Christchurch before the earthquakes, which had a beautiful stained glass rose window.  We understand from the guide and also from reading in the local papers that a decision has yet to be reached on the cathedrals future although it is apparent that many locals want to see it restored.  Whether this is possible given the scale of destruction to the building remains unclear.

As the tour concludes we both are surprised how much more positive we both feel about the future of the city compared to how we felt on our arrival yesterday.  We are really pleased to have been able to go on the tour and learn about the rebuild of the city.

Mrs M

Into Christchurch

We are sad today as we pack up Betty to leave Akaroa this morning as we are traveling today onto Christchurch, which will be our very last campsite, meaning our fantastic New Zealand trip is coming to an end.

Neither of us were really sure what to expect in Christchurch following the devastating series of earthquakes during 2010 and 2011 (1st, 2nd, 3rd).  We drive in through from the South through Lyttleton Harbour where the epicentre of the second most devastating earthquake had occurred in February 2011.  We are fairly stunned by what we see and the amount of devastation still apparent nearly two years on.  Hardly any of the buildings appear to have been left untouched in some way or another and many of the buildings have already been demolished.

We press onto Christchurch, now unsure what we would find and whether the city was ‘open’ to tourists.  Again as we drive into the city so many buildings (including many of the historic ones for which Christchurch was famed) have been affected and are now either cordoned off awaiting demolition, repair or inspection.   

We get a little lost on our way in despite the GPS as the city has changed so much and now many of the roads are closed off due to the extensive construction works being undertaken to rebuild the city.  It feels a sad place as we arrive in the city and make our way to the i-site to see whether we are able to book onto a tour into the ‘Red Zone’ tomorrow morning, to discover the impact of the earthquakes on the city centre, but to also understand the plans to rebuild the city.

We have a nice lunch in a little café which had taken up a make shift location in an old office building close to the botanical gardens –the café had been displaced after its original premises in the city centre were destroyed.   

As we wander further into the city we discover a pop up market, more displaced cafes and then we discover the 'Re:START Mall'.   

This is a really positive and fantastic place – it is a shopping centre entirely made up of brightly coloured shipping containers which have been taken up by many of the independent shops and boutiques which were originally located in the Red Zone.  Much of the area is filled with new art work and we leave here to get to our last campsite much more positive than we had felt on our arrival.

Mrs M