Here we are in Christchurch for our last few days in New Zealand. 29/1/16 – 1/2/16
(T) And the town centre is pretty much unrecognizable from my last visits in 2008. When you first get here it looks like not much rebuilding has been done but as you take the time to wander about it becomes clear that actually there is a lot. We took the tram ride and the driver pointed out all the new builds and boards show what is being built and for who. The town centre is still a shell with all the shops and bars I went to round cathedral square are gone. The container mall has grown and spread out a bit and is now called Restart Mall. Most of the new builds are big structures on the immediate outskirts of the square so it’s unclear what will be rebuilt in the square itself.
Today we took a trip out to the Orana Wildlife Park which was great. It has a great collection of animals including New Zealands only gorillas and they put on a good show. We decided against travelling through the Lions enclosure in a cage, knowing my luck I would get peed on and as we’re off to Fiji tomorrow I didn’t want any wet smelly clothes in my case! We spent a few hours there and thourally recommend it.
We had a few hours to kill before the flight so we went to the Antarctic centre which was pretty cool (geddit). Saw little blue penguins, set ups from Scott’s hut etc and had to try out the Antarctic zone but I chickened out at -15.
Cheerio New Zealand, see you next year…..