Kelly left snowy Chicago on the 25th of December and arrived here the 27th. She and I flew to Christchurch the next day for a 4 day sightseeing trip ( Ralph had to work). Between the time Ralph and I left Christchurch on the 23rd and my arrival back there with Kelly on the 28th, Christchurch experienced another aftershock earthquake of over 4.0 on the 26th. The really big one was Sept. 4th when the city was rocked by a 7.1 magnitude, greater than Haiti's, but what a difference good building codes make---no loss of life. Anyway, lots of buildings were fenced off downtown for inspection or awaiting repairs. Some were that way from the September quake and others from the one on the 26th. Shopkeepers who were open were busy putting merchandise back on the shelves from the floor and sweeping up plaster, etc. The day after we left, Christchurch had yet another 4.0 quake. Glad we missed these, but we did experience lots of smaller tremors while we were there.
In Christchurch we road the tram, visited the Canterbury Museum and Art Gallery, went punting on the Avon (funky boat ride on the river through the heart of the city), saw Mona Vale, and spent an evening at the Tamaki Maori Village. The latter included a traditional hangi (Maori underground cooking) for dinner and an outdoor drama. We were picked up for this in a double decker bus at our hotel with a group of about 30 students from VA Tech, University of Maryland and Texas A&M. The picture with our tongues hanging out is at the Tamaki Village. The face is representative of traditional Maori war faces and also their haka.
We left Christchurch on the TranzCoastal train heading north. And wow, what a ride! It parallels the sea for about 100 kms and the views are breathtaking. We stopped for a day in Kaikoura to go on a whale watching expedition. I'm going to have to come up with some new words to describe the scenery in parts of NZ. Kaikoura has to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life. It's a little coastal beach town of about 3,000 residents, situated on a gorgeous peninsula. It has very high mountains that are snow capped rising right out of the sea. Reminded me of maybe the Grand Tetons sitting right on the edge of California. Unfortunately I forgot the camera on this trip and my cell phone battery died (yeah, left the charger at home) before I got a good picture with it! So go and google for pictures of Kaikoura.
The whale watching boat ride was pretty wild. The sea was rough and the boat is fast and it was literally gut-wrenching. But---we saw two sperm whales up close and personal! We also saw a school of around 100 dusky dolphins who put on quite the show for us all around the boat. Also saw a couple of albatross on the trip. Back on land, Kelly and I took a long walk along the coast to the seal colony and enjoyed watching them bask in the sun. The weather was mid-70's and sunny.
We returned home New Year's Eve via the train, then the ferry from the South Island to the North, then the bus from Wellington. Palmerston North had a family event all evening and into the new year on the town square that started at 6:00 pm with music, food and fireworks but we were too tired to go. But we were wide awake and having dinner when the east coast of the USA welcomed the new year so I'm counting that!
Been enjoying watching college bowl games this weekend.
Happy New Year to everyone!
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