Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Christchurch to Hanmer

Today we went into Christchurch, which was an odd mixture of sobering and optimistic.  There were a lot of cleared spaces, a bit like English towns post-blitz, and quite a few boarded-up buildings waiting for demolition.  But there were also places like the Re:start retail area, with shops in shipping containers, and public art in cleared spaces.  To me, it felt like a place where the hurt and the rebuilding were happening side by side and entangled with each other.
After Christchurch, we hit the road up to Hanmer (once we’d finally tracked down a supermarket for food stocks), and that was another amazing New Zealand drive: fabulous scenery, nearly empty roads – it did help that the sun was shining again!

  Ate out at Venuti’s, which was nice and near (due to savage bites on my feet, walking was a bit of a problem!), Italian cuisine, and featured garlic, heavily.  Then crashed out: I’ve been having real problems staying awake beyond about 10 pm.  I think it’s all the fresh air…

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