Blake and Deb Far Away

Just south of Christchurch lies the Banks Peninsula, its volcanic origins evident with its lofty crater rim encircling a collapsed/eroded core now filled with seawater in the form of Akaroa Harbour. The scenic drive along the summit road offered us plenty of panoramic views, and the French colonial town of Akaroa was worth a quick stop. But the highlight for us was a walk along the narrow Onawe Peninsula, which extends into the harbor from the west. With shoreline, really interesting rock formations, and views all around, this was a great walk. Shoreline at Onawe Peninsula Wild rock formations Akaroa Harbour. Onawe Peninsula is the long triangular bit just left of center in the harbour. (photo by Deborah)

Christchurch has a fair bit of street art, plus a botanical garden and architecture both old and new. Here are some photos. This sculpture stands (handstands?) atop the Christchurch Art Gallery New Regent Street, which is't new at all (1932). The post-earthquake Deloitte Building, which is new (2015) Old and new - restored heritage tram Oversized outdoor artificial turf furniture in a public plaza (photo by Deborah) Christchurch Botanic Garden Christchurch Botanic Garden Sunset from our second Christchurch house sit Deborah's video of punters on the Avon River, which winds its way through Christchurch. Many of the punters are in costume (for some reason).

In February of 2011 Christchurch suffered a devastating earthquake that killed 185 people and injured nearly 7000. Several thousand homes and other buildings suffered irreparable damage, having already been weakened by an even larger, albeit more distant, earthquake in September 2010. Half of the buildings in the central business district have since been demolished, which is why so little of Christchurch looked familiar to me from my previous visit. So, even as the region has experienced thousands of more aftershocks and earthquakes since 2010, the city is rebuilding and reinventing itself, seizing the opportunity for a massive urban renewal project. We’d love to come back in 5 or 10 years to see the finished product, but even in its current state of repair Christchurch is still a beautiful city. Christchurch Cathedral was heavily damaged in the 2011 earthquake. The Transitional Cathedral, also known as the Cardboard Cathedral for the large cardboard tubes acting as r...

We were fortunate to line up a couple (so far) of house sits in New Zealand, both in Christchurch. New Zealand isn’t exactly cheap to travel in, so saving on the cost of hotels is most welcome. Plus, it provides the opportunity to downshift from full-on tourist mode, which can be exhausting. So it gives us a base to explore Christchurch, but also the time to do our taxes, go through the thousands of photos we’ve taken, and of course get some always welcome puppy love.  These two house sits are each to look after a pair of dogs. The first were a pair of adorable schnauzers named Rafferty, who never tires of chasing tennis balls, and the Tessa, who is elderly and considers chasing tennis balls more of a spectator sport. We took them on walks every day, usually at the nearby beach. We really enjoyed meeting the schnauzers’ owners Lyndal and Roger before their trip to Wellington and plan to reconnect with them later in our trip. Our second pair of dogs was Sooty and Bella. So...

From Dunedin we travelled up the coast first to the Moeraki Boulders – large spherical concretions in the coastal cliffs that are exposed by erosion and left to sit on the beach for us tourists to gawk at and gift shops to spring up around. They are best viewed at low tide but our timing was such that we were there near high tide. Interesting nonetheless. We spent the night at an AirBnB – a tiny house really – in Kakanui, very near a nice little beach. We had a nice chat with our hosts, who also gave us some fruit and vegetables from their bountiful garden. The next day it was on to Oamaru, a small town famous for its Victorian architecture, penguin colonies, and steampunk vibe. Unfortunately, we hit serious rain and had to limit our viewing of the streetscapes to what we could see from the dry confines of our rental car. But we did enjoy a visit to the mostly indoor local steampunk museum before continuing our drive up the coast to Christchurch. Moeraki Boulders (phot...