Anne here.
Altogether a much better day, although the weather was only marginally better.
Canterbury Museum in Christchurch – wow what a fab museum. Really interesting, all sorts of exhibits – geology, earthquakes, Maori culture, Antarctic exploration, NZ animals and birds and loads, loads more. No entrance fee but a donation at the end, we were happy to donate generously.
Then a walk around the centre of Christchurch, so interesting but also very sad. There are some new projects but you get the feeling the scale of the repair work needed is just overwhelming.
I loved the old trams that are still running.
Then another really fab museum. Two of the best museums in one day. The National Aircraft museum in Wigram. Very well done, really interesting. In a land of lovely, friendly people, the restaurant manager gets my vote for the nicest, friendliest person who we’ve met so far and there is stiff competition for this accolade.
On balance I am glad that we came to Christchurch, it was fab to meet Greg and visit the two museums. But the city sadly is unsettling and proof that it can take a community a very long time to even begin to recover from a natural disaster and the repair work can be haphazard, chaotic and unevenly distributed.