Christchurch - Day 1

We landed late last night (lost a few hours with the time-zone) so stayed in a cheap airport motel.

Woke up the next morning and headed for the city. Dropped bags and first things first, let's check the breakie scene.

We walked towards the centre about 15 mins away and got our first taste of the city. Wide and quiet streets, no buildings too high (as expected). Can understand why Adelaide is the sister city.

Our Uber driver mentioned a place called Riverside Market where there are stacks of different places all under one roof. He was right, but we were overwhelmed with choice, so went around the corner to what sounds like a pretty hipster cafe. It lived up to its look.

We aim towards the true city centre and see ChristChurch Cathedral in its current state of rebuild.

We follow the Avon river around for a bit. Its so pretty; clean, clear and fast running. Getting strong British vibes with this setup. We see a guy come floating down-stream in his kayak. The sun is out, the jackets are off, this is the most sun we've had all year!

The obligatory stop in at the Casino to see what's-what and to get a chip.

Then into "Quake City", a museum detailing the massive earthquakes from 2010/2011. Some of the footage shown was incredible. A personal security camera pointing out to the street showed a number of people in the middle of it all. Some nerdy stuff about liquefaction and we are up to speed. Harrowing stuff.

We follow the river back out to the edge of town, past where their do the punting and into Hagley Park.

We park up in the sun, do some reading (snoozing) and then hear that our friends have arrived.

We get an electric scooter back to the motel, meet our friends and then head out for some food.

We hit up a place very similar to the Riverside markets, but with dinner time foods. So many options, we all get something different, and we're all impressed! Christchurch is looking like a foodie city.

We stock up on stuff for the trip at a massive supermarket and head home.