Christchurch

Day 42

It was a super early start 0600!  we were off wale watching and we were hoping luck would be on our side.  After a quick safety briefing we were on our way.

After about 20 min we were on route to spotting our first wale.  It was a sperm wale.  Apparently these things will eat anything, including sharks!

The iconic tale shot!

After about 10 minutes he disappeared down into the sea.  However our luck was in again as another wale was spotted about about a mile away.  This time it was a Hump Back Wale, it was jumping up and down in the water.  Unfortunately I missed the best shot, I was not quite on the right side of the boat.



Other sea life was spotted as well.

Sea lion

Dusky Dolphins.  They were right up by the side of the boat, just were I was stood.  The highlight of the day in my opinion.


Next was a 2 hour drive up to Christchurch, where we came within 5k of running out of fuel.  After a quick unpacking we headed off downtown, well what is left of it.  I fully appreciate the city was hit by 3 huge earthquakes 4 years ago.  However I had assumed most of it had been rebuilt, I was wrong. There is so much construction work going on, they are essentially rebuilding the city centre from scratch.

One of the many churches still under construction

In the huge earthquake 183 people lost their lives in the CCTV building.  Each one of these chairs represents someone that died.  They come in all shapes and sizes, just like the people that were lost.  There is also a sign that says this display  is temporary, as is  life.  

Regenerated part of the city, kind of reminded me of San Francisco

This is church made out of re-enforced cardboard, It was pretty impressive.