We headed up the East Coast of the South Island for our last week. From Central Otago we went to Christchurch via Timaru, then on to Hanmer Springs, Blenheim, and back to Picton for the ferry home.
Christchurch
I had been to Christchurch a couple of times since the big earthquakes of 2010/2011, but both times had just been day trips, and I had not gone into the centre of town. This time we did, and I was somewhat shocked at how torn up much of the city still is, and how much there is to do. There are a huge number of levelled off areas, and still too many buildings that have not been torn down (although they should be). I understand that it takes time, but if I was living there, I would be pretty upset about the rate of progress.
Certainly things are under way, and there’s some pretty cool “temporary” food/shopping/entertainment areas, but I wonder what the long-term impact to the city will be. Businesses have re-established elsewhere – either on the outskirts or outside Christchurch – and I wonder how many of them will return to the CBD. What will that do to the city if it no longer has a strong “heart”? Does it become a soulless sprawl of a place? The current trend, particularly amongst younger people, is to want to live in central areas – what happens if they don’t want to live in Christchurch because it has no well-defined centre? I hope they can get over their inertia, and re-build the city into a place with a strong identity and style, in the way Napier rebuilt.
One of the nice things we did was to catch up with Karen & Hamish, who live in Christchurch these days with their two young kids. Had to have a glass of Lindauer, for old times sake.
Hanmer Springs
Slightly back inland, and up in altitude to Hanmer Springs, an old thermal resort town. It doesn’t just have hot springs though – they’ve been building a network of mountain bike tracks to go with the walking trails. This was a nice town to stop in for a few days, and take it easy. A nice bit of relatively easy riding, and then a soak in the hot pools. I have to say that Anna and I are not made for sitting around doing nothing. We looked at the people sitting for hours in one pool, and thought “Not for us” – we had more fun spending a bit of time in each pool, working our way around all the pools, then getting out after a couple of hours. Don’t know how you’d spend a whole day there.
The interesting thing about Hanmer is the altitude, and the difference this makes to the weather. It can go from baking hot one day, and then drop down to only 8° the next day. You definitely want to be carrying decent clothing when you’re out on the trails.
Blenheim
We had a few hours to spare in Blenheim, so headed over to the Wither Hills bike park – Anna was most upset that there wasn’t any wine at the top of hill
I’m not really sure what was going on here. I think maybe we’d spent too much time with each other over the last few weeks?
And as for this, I think I’m stuck in a giant mousewheel:
