Wednesday 19th January Hanmer Springs to Christchurch (via Kaikoura)

We sadly left our little house after breakfast today and headed to Kaikoura on route to Christchurch.Overlooked by a range of snow covered mountains, the Kaikoura region first attracted Maori who came to harvest its abundant seafood.The town gets its name from the Maori words for food (kai) and crayfish (koura).

We had opted not to pay for any of the activities today and Wozza dropped us off at the seal colony about a 5km walk from town.We had about 5 hours here to enjoy the beaches and the rocks and take a slow walk back into town.Along the way we saw fur seals basking in the sun (yesterday's rain was a distant memory) and stopped at a roadside trailer to sample the local seafood (crayfish, mussels and shrimp).

Back in town as we waited for Wozza to pick us up, we found some amazing ice cream - check out the size of Ant's cone in the photos!!!

After picking up the people who had been whale watching and swimming with the dolphins, we continued south to Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island.

Majestic leafy trees, manicured lawns and extensive collections of native and exotic plants add to the English ambience of the city.The old-world English feeling is further enhanced by the AvonRiver where you can pole a punt!!!Unfortunately, the devastation of the recent earthquakes is still evident in the ruined buildings, reconstruction and closed off streets.The rebuilding efforts seem almost futile as aftershocks continue to rock the city on a daily basis.We were (un)lucky(!) enough to experience a 5.1 quake at 6.03 am on Thursday morning - the largest tremor since the big one last September .It was 10km away and 10km down and I actually slept through it!!!!

Jana is leaving us here in Christchurch to return home as she has become increasingly unwell since developing infected blisters at the Tongariro Crossing. She has visited a medical centre here in Christchurch and has been advised not to travel any further as she has now developed bacterial pharyngitis - I will miss her as we both love Lord of the Rings and had been planning to go on the Lord of the Rings tour in Queenstown.Get well soon Jana xx