18 August
2013
Well,
we’re home again.
The boys
had a birthday party to go to, and our plane left at 12.15pm, so we all went
our separate ways at the same time; Mary kindly giving us a lift to the
airport. We had a great time with them (did I say that Marcus is a good cook),
and they were very generous in letting us stay with them. The boys were great
and it was wonderful to finally meet with them at an age where we could all
interact meaningfully.
And would
you believe that today was the first cold day we’ve experienced in
Christchurch? In fact it’s colder here in Thames at the moment.
We had
lunch at Wishbone. I had a fruit salad, and, because I thought it would taste
nicer as a lunch rather than a breakfast, a Passion Yoyo (Melting Moment like
the one we had for breakfast last Sunday) and a lemon juice. Afterwards we
still had a little time to kill so we looked in the Antarctic Centre shop and I
bought a South Pole patch. It’s the first souvenir I’ve bought all trip.
Everything had the Cathedral on it, and the Cathedral doesn’t look like that
anymore.
The plane
flight was mainly smooth and we think the pilot may have been the daughter of
another Rangitoto bach holder. We know she works for Air New Zealand, and I
think I heard the name Christine mentioned as being the pilot. Of course it
could have been another.
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| Farewell Spit. "Goodbye, South Island" |
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| "Hello, North Island"... And it turned out to be the southern bit of the western lump of the island which is Taranaki |
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| It's a mythical mountain! |
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| If this blog had been my New Plymouth one we would have had fantastic views of Mount Egmont/Taranaki from the city. |
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| New Plymouth to the right |
We started decending into Auckland about five minutes after I took those shots. I wish I could have photographed that.
We found
our bags on the conveyor belt okay. Why is it that everyone crams around the
beginning on the conveyor belt, ready to barge their way through and pounce on
their bag when it emerges, when it would be probably just as quick and
definitely easier to reach your bag by heading to the end of the queue?
Human
beings are odd creatures.
Then we
caught the Air Bus Express (or whatever they call it) to town. It was $16 each,
which means that we saved a $1.00 by getting the taxi to the airport a week
ago.
Which
reminds me. On the way to the Christchurch Airport, Mary asked us what the
highlight was. Aside from catching up with them, we couldn’t think of anything.
It only took a week and we’d forgotten about the train trip. There may not have
been snow, but it was definitely a highlight.
As we drove down Dominion Road I was struck by how odd it
looked to see shops of a certain vintage without fencing barricading them off,
and open for business… And, D.C. added, selling food. After only one week, all
that destruction and resurrection has become the norm.
We had
hoped that the bus would drop us off at the Skytower, because we often see it
there while we’re waiting for the Thames bus. But instead we had to get out in
Queen Street and drag our bags up the hill...
Hills?
What are those? Everything’s flat in Christchurch (which was half their problem.)
I’ve just been over to Wikipedia to check my facts and
discovered that icebergs were calved from the Tasman Glacier because of the
earthquake.
And as another aside, when we got home this evening, I went
next door to get D.C.’s keys (remember the Hillary saga?) and Raewyn told me
that she’d felt the Wellington earthquake from the other day. She’d heard it
and came inside to see the lights swaying.
And we missed it.
We had dinner at Denny’s at 3.00pm. The food’s okay, but we mainly
go there because it’s handy to the bus terminal. I did manage to cash in some
of my points and got it cheaper than it would have normally been (by $8.80!).
The man who accepted payment asked if I also had a Gold Card like D.C.’s . “Uh,
no. I’m not as old as her and I’m not a veteran.”
The bus left just after 5.00pm (We like to get there really
early so we can claim the front seat.) and it was a good trip back to Thames.
And then we had to walk a mile home. We’ve only been gone a week and we’re
expecting to see wholesales changes to the town.
Crazy.
We stopped off at Park and Spend... Sorry, the Pak ‘n Save supermarket
on the way to get some bread and yoghurt for breakfast. I also got some propolis
lozenges to battle my cold, which kicked in today. How come they have plenty of
stuff for sore throats, but nothing for drippy noses?
Oh, well.
I’ll keep sniffing.
So that’s
our holiday. It’s all over. :-(
Thoughts on
Christchurch
It’s constantly noisy, which is understandable when you
consider all the building going on. There’s either a never ending drone, or
banging as piles are driven into the ground for foundations, and clanging as
things hit other things. It must be something like what Thames used to be like
during the gold rush days. Only you’d get two days of peace and quiet instead of
just Sundays.
And there’s not a lot of traffic or people in the central
city. We were struck by the contrast when we got to Auckland this afternoon.
Bealey Ave, where we stayed in the Abbey Motel (#2), is full
of accommodation places and medical establishments, but not much on the way of
eating places. Our theory is that as you cross these very busy roads (four
lanes going each way) and you get bowled by the traffic, you can get immediate
medical help.
I think the pedestrian crossing lights are still on the same
phasing that they were before the quakes, or at least before the road works. So
that some change from green to red before you’re halfway across, while others
are still green when you’re almost at the next set of lights.
Anything else to say?
The people of Christchurch are still (at least those we
spoke to – which I guess were the ones with jobs and some certainty) very
positive, and helpful, and willing to share their experiences. Did I tell you
about the museum worker who told us about her daughter and grandchildren? They’d
decided to stop off at the local supermarket and the museum lady’s daughter did
what she never does, put her daughter (Sophie!) into the trolley, because Sophie
was tired. When the quake hit they were pelted by falling fruit (which hurt),
but if Sophie hadn’t been in the trolley, she probably would have been running
ahead and anything could have happened.
So many “what if” and “only if” stories. Like the bus driver
who never had sick leave and been too ill to work February 22nd. If
she’d been driving she would have been in control of the bus that was flattened
by masonry. I think only one person got out of that bus, and it wasn’t the
driver.
That’s a
mixed blessing story.
We can only
hope that the people of Christchurch can get through this, survive, and grow.
And thinking about it there are two things that I must do:
1) Cut my fingernails. They are WAY too long for typing. I won't be able to do any work tomorrow. (Work. What a lovely thought.)
2) Hope that my ear is fully unblocked by tomorrow. The flight gummed it up and I'll need it operational for work. It's my telephone ear!
And thinking about it there are two things that I must do:
1) Cut my fingernails. They are WAY too long for typing. I won't be able to do any work tomorrow. (Work. What a lovely thought.)
2) Hope that my ear is fully unblocked by tomorrow. The flight gummed it up and I'll need it operational for work. It's my telephone ear!
