By the time we arrived in Christchurch after driving from Kaikoura it was almost evening. We checked in at our B&B which was lovely, very nicely decorated like shabby chic but more luxurious. We went for a short walk around the local area and grabbed some dinner.

The next day we had planned to go in the city centre which was a bit daunting as we didn't know what to expect after the earthquake. 80% of the buildings in the centre had either been destroyed or needed to be demolished due to the damage they had sustained. It was almost like a ghost town in parts, abandoned buildings, rubble, only the foundations and pillars left, great big empty spaces. The cathedral was one of the saddest things to see as a large part of it had collapsed, including two of the domes. Such history and culture ruined. There's great debate as to what to do with the cathedral now either demolish it and rebuild or try and repair what is left. The Re:Start mall is now famous as they put together a make shift shopping centre out of shipping containers. It was quite quirky and modern (hip as Mum says). We wandered around there and then went in to the Quake Exhibition to learn more about the tragic event and aftermath. It was very moving especially the video of people's accounts of what had happened to them on the day. A lot of people did lose their lives in the disaster. The earthquake that actually did the most damage was an aftershock several months later from the original one. There were a few aftershocks but none that caused such damage. There was a video in the exhibit which was some footage from a security camera and within a couple of seconds of the quake starting this building started collapsing. It's scary how much damage happened so quickly! We walked around the city and over to the park and museum as well. We stopped in a suburb called Merivale for dinner at an Italian restaurant.

The next day we drove down to Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula which was about an hour an a half from Christchurch. We stopped a town called Little River for a drink on the way and checked out a lovely little gallery with pieces of art work from local artists. The drive itself to Akaroa was very windy and further on we ended up in the mountains with steep drop offs. There were stunning views though which made it worth it. Once in the town we had a walk along the waterfront before going to L'Hotel for lunch which was delicious! Thoroughly recommend. We went for a walk up to the lighthouse and beyond which was lovely and very peaceful. We also found our dream house for sale... So we may be moving ;)! There were some sweet little boutique shops to wander into and overall just a really pleasant town. It had a really nice feel to it and was very pretty. On our drive back we went via Lyttleton which was one of the suburbs worst affected by the earthquake. It's all a real eye opener.