Hello all, sorry we have been a bit lax with the blog since New year. We left Akaroa on New Year's Day and headed to Christchurch, over the hills just 85km away. Christchurch is still going through extensive rebuilding after the series of earthquakes from september 2010. From what we could see, the west of the city looks pretty normal but the centre and east are still rubble in places and still look very much worse for wear, even two years on. Cathedral square looks very sorry. The picture I am posting is from the Internet, I have not had chance to download mine yet. However, it is clear that the city and its residents have given a lot of time and thought to what they want their new city to look like and the plans look really interesting - lonely planet has CC as one of the top cities to visit for 2013. So in CC we spent a bit of time looking at the damage, then went shopping and sorted out the van for its return the next day, giving away remaining food to those on the campsite just starting their travels! The van return went fine, and we flew out of CC for Auckland on the evening of Wednesday 2nd, spent the night here and are now just at the end of our New Zealand adventure as we sit in the Emperor lounge waiting for our flight to KL, enjoying our complimentary food and drink. I like this airport lounge access!! We have had a wonderful holiday, seen some beautiful sights and now it is time to plan our next adventure!