When we arrived in Christchurch, we found it to be much cooler than anticipated especially after Australia but our welcome was warm. On our first night there, we went to the home of a New Zealand family for a typical New Zealand home-cooked dinner. Our meal consisted of roasted lamb with mint sauce, vegetables from their garden and the traditional dessert of Pavlova, a meringue base filled with whipped cream and covered with kiwi, peaches and strawberries.
They, like many others, had sustained some earthquake damage to their home although it was not extensive because they lived on the outskirts of town. The downtown section was the hardest hit. Even the hotel where we stayed had some cracks in the walls and scaffolding around some of the outside areas.
Christchurch, founded in July of 1856 is the second largest city in New Zealand with a population of 367,700 people. On our second day there, we were driven around to see the earthquake damage in the downtown area which, in some areas, was almost decimated. Many of the buildings had to be demolished while others, particularly those that have heritage value, are still being worked on in an effort to preserve them. Many have container cars placed in front of the facades to prevent them from crumbling or toppling over. It was a sad sight to see. During the second earthquake, 185 people lost their lives. A memorial in the downtown area had been established to honour them.
Because of the extensive damage, many restaurants had been closed, as well as hotels and tourist attractions. As a result, there were fewer places in Christchurch that we could visit and explore. A group of us took a cab to the Botanical Gardens and walked around. I admired many of the towering, majestic trees, some reportedly more than 120 years old. The flowers were still colourfully prominent and there didn't appear to be any major earthquake damage to this area. The Botanical Garden was begun by the planting of a solitary oak tree in 1863. It is bordered on three sides by Hagley Park and in some areas you can see the gently flowing Avon River beside it.
We also visited the Canterbury Museum established in 1867 but not opened to the public until 1882. The museum specializes in early Maori, European settlement and Antarctic exploration and was extremely interesting to look through. Over the years the building has been added to several times. During the recent eqrthquake it did sustain some minor damage to its facade. However, it is suspected that there was not as much damage as might have been were it not for the earthquake upgrading that was done during the latest addition.
Following our visit to the museum, we decided to walk back to our hotel, a distance of about three miles. It was quite pleasant when we started out but turned into a rainpour halfway there. However, it was fairly warm so once we were wet, it wasn't really that unpleasant. And after a stop at a Chinese restaurant for a nice hot bowl of soup, we were ready to go again. Well, almost.
From Christchurch we caught the Tranz Alpine Express for the scenic trip through the Southern Alps to Franz Josef Glacier Region. We chugged our way up picturesque mountains, across trestles with rivers flowing far below, passed scenic lakes, saw the lush greenness of valleys where sheep and cattle grazed and enjoyed the wonders of this fabulous nature. The Tranz Alpine Express, operating since the end of 1987, has an on-board cafe, large windows for excellent viewing and an open air carriage in the middle of the train to even better see the passing scenery. After about three hours of travelling, we bid adieu to our train life and again boarded the coach bus for the remainder of our trip to Franz Josef Glacier Region where we spent the night before heading to Queenstown.
The landscape between Franz Josef and Queenstown was stunning with rainforest vistas, the twisting coastline, magnificent waterfalls and gorgeous, green glacial lakes. One particularly impressive lake was Hawea. At its longest point it is 35 km and at its deepest, it is 392 metres. But most striking is its natural beauty and spectacular colour.
So far New Zealand has not been a disappointment. It surpasses any of my expectations with its beautiful and diverse scenery and for its abundance of mountains, rivers, waterfalls and lakes. Our next stop is Queenstown. Can it get any better than what we have seen so far?
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