The remarkable Christchurch and the detour to Kaikoura

After publishing my blog in the library, I walked back to the car to change. It had become warm, even very warm. On this day, the thermometer was set to reach 25 degrees, giving me a glorious sunny day in Christchurch in shorts and a t-shirt. Around 10:00 am, I started my sightseeing tour of Christchurch, as always, without much of a plan. I had done some reading and remembered the main sights to see. Christchurch is truly a unique city. Due to its history, which I mentioned in my last blog post, Christchurch is not like many other big cities. On February 22, 2011, Christchurch was hit by a very strong earthquake, which destroyed almost the entire city center. A total of 185 people lost their lives. Even almost eight years later, the earthquake is still present. There are hardly any tall buildings in Christchurch, and ruins and abandoned buildings can be seen on every corner. In addition, construction is taking place everywhere in the city. Many old buildings are empty because they are at risk of collapsing. However, Christchurch is truly special, and especially beautiful and remarkable. The city feels like one big piece of artwork. There is super cool street art on every corner and on many building walls. Immediately after the earthquake, many shipping containers were converted into necessary facilities, and to this day you can still see shipping containers scattered throughout the city. In addition, there are many spots where you can be artistic, such as your own dance floor with music and speakers. The newly built library alone is an absolute highlight. With its own sound studios, video studios, and craft rooms accessible to everyone, you can easily spend a whole day there. In addition, there is a cool garden on the roof with a great view of the city. Oh, as I think about it, I can't stop raving. But let me get back to the morning. After I finished at the car, my first stop was the Cardboard Cathedral. This cathedral partially replaces the destroyed cathedral located in the center of Christchurch. The special thing about this newly built cathedral is that it was mostly made of cardboard and shipping containers. It was opened in August 2013 and is intended to serve as a replacement for ten years. Behind it, 185 white chairs were placed in remembrance of the earthquake victims. A sad and impressive memorial. After visiting this area, I walked around the city, admiring the many artworks and the mix of old and new. It felt good to be in a larger city again after traveling mostly through nature in the past few weeks. Even though Christchurch doesn't have a traditional shopping street and it feels like there are hardly any stores, I found myself buying a thing or two in the small shops :D I enjoyed the beautiful weather and let myself go with the flow. I also discovered the free art gallery, the Canterbury Museum, the Botanic Garden, and the Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial. This place also commemorates the 185 victims and the many injured. All in all, I had a truly wonderful day in Christchurch and I'm really excited to see how this city will continue to develop and reinvent itself. I could definitely imagine visiting again in a few years to see what has become of the many construction sites :) After this great day, I went on a very long trip to Kaikoura. There, I hoped to see whales or dolphins from the land, similar to South Africa. Unfortunately, I have to say in retrospect that the trip was not really worth it. You can only see the mentioned animals on one of the more expensive boat tours, and aside from a mediocre portion of fish and chips and a few distant seals, Kaikoura didn't have much to offer. In addition, the 185-kilometer drive there was super exhausting. Since there was also an earthquake in 2016, I had to drive through at least 15 stop-and-go construction sites. The twenty-kilometer coastal stretch before Kaikoura was one big construction site and hardly allowed any views of the coast. In addition, there was a lot of traffic on the single-lane road. Later in the day, I realized that it was a public holiday, which is why so many New Zealanders were on the road. Both the way there and the return trip to Christchurch in the afternoon were the most exhausting drives in New Zealand. Oh well, now I'm back near Christchurch and I will spend today visiting a small farmers market, packing, cleaning the campervan, and freshening up a bit :D For tonight, my last night in New Zealand, I treat myself to a slightly more expensive campsite with a kitchen and bathrooms. Tomorrow morning at 9:00 am, it's time to say goodbye to the van and the camper life, and at 2:00 pm my flight from Christchurch to Auckland will depart. Then, at 1:00 am, I will fly from Auckland to Singapore. I think I will check in again with a little summary on Sunday, as I will be spending a lot of time at the airports on that day. Until then, have a great weekend!