Saturday 14 January 2012

Day 286 - Christchurch


We had to start the day by going to take a look at the state of Christchurch, which made me and Antonia feel quite sad and Mike feel very curious.  Basically a large section of the town centre is completely closed, and it still seems to be more under controlled demolishment than reconstruction.  Around that, the city is more or less functional but there are lots of boarded up buildings.  When you see the long term impact a disaster can have on a city in fairly wealthy country like New Zealand, you understand why places like Haiti do not recover fast.

We picnicked in the botanic gardens which haven't changed much, and headed off towards Tekapo.  We were planning to just pass through there, and take in the hot thermal pools which overlook the lake.  Unfortunately, we hadn't been there long before Antonia developed a stomach ache.  Little girls have stomach aches all the time, so Mike and I were a bit unreactive until the stomach ache turned into something rather more... ermm... explosive.  We headed back to our cabin wondering what had happened, and by about midnight, I came down with it too.  Better if I just draw a veil over the rest of the night....

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