An early start again as I hit the road. Had a cup of tea before I set off and just admired the view. Must be so nice to see that every day
The road up was through several passes, unfortunately, there was a bit of early morning low cloud, so no pictures. There was also a ground frost which was strange given how sunny the weather has been. Once clear of the passes, the roads were back to being long, flat and straight, which is a bit boring but the kms were clocking up nicely. There was one point when I thought I was back home…
After a reasonable drive, I arrived at Christchurch. First impressions of Christchurch were it was busy. I walked into town around rush hour and it strange to see so many cars. The traffic had been building as I got closer but I was walking in past the queuing traffic. There’s a park on the outskirts, which has some botanical gardens and was quite a pleasant stroll through. It was strange to see daffodils and bluebells out. I’d seen new lambs on the drive up, and with the clocks going forward, it’s springtime here. Obviously I know it happens that way round in this hemisphere, but it’s still strange!
I came out of the park to find the traffic wasn’t there, and the reason for that was that Christchurch is no longer really there. There’s a lot of cleared sites where buildings used to be, and the ones that remain are in the process of being restored but are held up with massive scaffolds. I couldn’t see any shops, and very few people were about. It was quite humbling really, and tragic that what is clearly a very clean and populated city is still rebuilding after the tragic earthquakes in 2010 and 2011
Drive back to Picton tomorrow, drop the car off, then ferry back to Wellington and time to start preparing to come home. Will be very sorry to leave the South Island, it’s been a brilliant experience!