The R&R Big Adventure

Test Match Special

The Cook Strait crossing was thankfully smooth, and the views as we approached the South Island were beautiful. The train journey from Picton down to Christchurch was made better by the fact our carriage wasn’t very full and the meal service very friendly. It is indeed a scenic train route, and we were glad we took it – seeing vineyards, rolling hills, salt flats and lots of coastline on the journey south. You could smell the waves from the open air observation car. It is fair to say we had sampled a few glasses of New Zealand wine by the end of the nearly six hour journey. After checking in to our hotel, we had a short explore of Christchurch, but it wasn’t a late Saturday evening finish.

Sunday morning, and R was excited to be going to see England play a Test Match (his first) in Christchurch. The bright blue skies buoyed the mood. He went off to watch the cricket whilst I wanted to explore Christchurch, and especially find out more about the devasting earthquake that struck in February 2011. The impact of it was already obvious to see – lots of shiny new buildings around the city, the cathedral still under restoration, and a fair few empty plots of land where I assume buildings once stood. The Quake City Exhibition shone more light on this: 185 people died, over 80% of the central city was either destroyed or needed to be demolished following the quake, and over a third of Christchurch’s houses were affected by liquification of the ground. The impact of it nearly fourteen years later though was some very smart new commercial and residential premises, and a thoughtful public realm, including an understated memorial wall by the Avon river that runs through Christchurch, remembering the names of those who died. Interestingly, as part of the cathedral restoration works, dampeners (similar to those we saw in Wellington’s Parliament buildings) are planned for its foundations. The city is certainly very low rise, with only a few buildings over ten stories or so.

I then moved on to the Botanical Gardens – immaculately laid out (as is common it seems in NZ) , with everything well tendered, watered and trimmed. The rose garden in particular with stunning – seeing it in what is now early Summer here, all the bushes and climbers were in full bloom, and a riot of colour and scent filled the garden. The New Zealand Icon Garden was also looking particularly lush, filled with notable plants of the country including of course the iconic fern.

Walking through the city centre it continued to feel strange to see Christmas trees, snow scenes in shop window displays, and to hear Shakin’ Stevens blasting from shop speakers, when everyone is in shorts and T-shirts. Surely they should be playing Christmas songs about Santa dashing through the surf, or people having frisbee, not snowball, fights on the beach? Children growing up in the southern hemisphere must surely go through a period of confusion when snow is featured everywhere at this time of year. In Chile, as we saw ourselves, festive shopping bags even said ‘Happy Christmas’ in English, and with a festive snow scene. Why?!

Apparently England had done well with their balls, wickets and runs, so with the Test Match now over, and R in a happy mood, we met up again (strange being apart for a few hours for the first time in two months!) to have a drink together, before meandering by the river in the late afternoon sunshine to get back to our hotel.

We are now at Christchurch airport, waiting for our flight to Queenstown (avoiding a six hour drive) and from where we will really start exploring the South Island. Tomorrow we embark on a long coach journey to Milford Sound, and an overnight boat trip in the famous Fiordland, which should hopefully make for some spectacular views, weather permitting.