Christchurch – Sam and Martha's travel blog

Back to Christchurch

Yesterday we left Hanmer Springs and drove down back to Christchurch.

Today we went in to the city centre and saw some buskers. We saw an act where a woman was on a giant wheel. Then we saw Mr. Spin who juggled maces while on a unicycle. He also balanced a cup of water on his head. Then we saw a Japanese act doing some gymnastics and balancing spinning tops. He also did some balancing on a wooden plank. Then we saw the Birdmann and Egg. It was funny.

We also saw some Chinese lanterns and a dragon in the river.

Sumner Beach

Exciting day today – for months now I have been looking forward to seeing my friend Rhiannon. We trained together in the UK and then she came out to visit my friend Jo and I when we worked in New Zealand 20 years ago and she’s stayed ever since!

She came and found us at the holiday park and navigated us to Sumner Beach. That area had been cut off during the 2011 earthquake. There are still some houses perched up on the cliff that look very precarious.

We had a lovely lunch at the cafe on the beach and shared a few hours catching up together. Last time we met up was when we were in Christchurch 6 years ago – Rhiannon says Sam hasn’t changed, just got taller, but Martha of course is so very different from her 11 month self!!

We’ll look forward to seeing Rhiannon again when we return to Christchurch at the end of the month.

Goodbye Australia (for now), hello New Zealand!

We left Australia yesterday and flew to Christchurch in New Zealand.

We arrived in the early hours so caught up on some sleep this morning and then went in to Christchurch city centre in the afternoon.

We were last here in February 2014 and it was interesting to see how the city had changed. There was some building progress on the Cathedral, which was heavily damaged in the 2011 earthquake.

Around the corner from the Transitional Cathedral (made out of cardboard) was a temporary art installation called “185 Empty Chairs”, with each chair representing someone who had lost their life in the earthquake. It was very moving to see the chairs and the list of names there, especially as I knew one of them. I had the pleasure of meeting RB when he visited a friend of mine back in Skipton. May he rest in peace.