January 27
Our final day in New Zealand was largely filled with traveling to Christchurch and learning about the city and in particular the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. I had not realized that the 2011 one (which had fatalities because of its location and timing) was in fact an aftershock of the stronger but less deadly 2010 earthquake. 12 years later, much of the business district has been rebuilt, but the cathedral and basilica have not been, and there are large residential areas that have been declared unbuildable. The fault lines that run towards Christchurch are branches off the long alpine fault that we learned about when we were in the west.
On our way there, we passed the location in Castle Rock where part of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was filmed. We also spent time in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, where we saw California Quail with eight tiny fuzzy chicks. Walking around the business district it was interesting to see Manukah Honey on sale everywhere, now that we know what Manukah is, and how hard people work to encourage the bees to only eat Manukah in order to be certified at the higher quality / price point. In some cases (like at Arthur’s Pass, where they have 26 hives that produce 5 tons (!!) of honey), they place the hives carefully and tear out all the clover as the bees would prefer clover to Manukah if they had the chance.
Tomorrow we are off to Adelaide and the start of our South Australia adventure. We’ll be back in New Zealand on the north island for a day on our way home.
Pictured: sunrise at Arthur’s Pass, California Quail chick, scaffolding around Christchurch Cathedral
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