Christchurch is now best known to most people for the earthquakes that occurred in September 2010 and February 2011 - the latter killing 185 people. Today signs of the damage caused are still everywhere. These range from the minor - walls propped up, patches on roofs where a chimney fell down, collapsed garden walls - to major. Empty lots are a sign a building was destroyed and has been cleared whilst the Central Business District is still cordoned off and most resembles a war zone. On the bus to Sumner, a suburb by the beach, we pass dozens of shipping containers erected as a barrier to prevent further landslides from demolishing houses and blocking the road. On the cliff top houses teeter on the edge. One has half collapsed - its interior now exposed to public view whilst the contents are strewn down the cliff face. Buildings constructed of brick and stone suffered particularly badly so churches have not fared well. A belief in God, it would seem, is no protection against natural disasters.

Tremors still occur regularly. One of magnitude 4.1 in the middle of the night is, so we are told, relatively small but enough to wake us with a start (it sounded and felt like a couple of elephants had landed on the roof). However, sitting on the balcony in our fantastic B&B, drinking Sauvignon Blanc (in New Zealand it's not enough to say 'red' or 'white', one has to know one's grape) and looking out over the Canterbury Plain and the Pacific Ocean (the B&B is called Pacific View Paradise and we can heartily recommend it) it is difficult to visualise the extent of the damage below.

And, of course, life goes on. Those shipping containers that protect from landslides have other uses. The destroyed shopping centre has relocated into the Re:START Mall where shops and cafes are housed in brightly painted containers. A brand new bus station has opened making Christchurch's comprehensive (and cheap) public transport system easy to use. Businesses have moved into new premises and new ones are opening all the time. The city may be some way from 'normal' but it is certainly getting back on its feet.

We've spent a very pleasant couple of days here recovering from the long trip out. We've met up with a couple of friends. Paul, whom Iain met when he went trekking in Peru last October, is spending 6 months at the University and Nicola, who used to work with Kate, moved here 8 years ago and makes it sound very tempting. After two good lunches and some more of that Sauvignon Blanc it's difficult not to agree. The weather after a cloudy start is sunny and warm. The people are equally warm and friendly. What's not too like?

Tomorrow morning we pick up our camper van and head off first towards Dunedin to see penguins and albatrosses (just big seagulls according to Kate) and then, perhaps, Invercargill, where both Kate's father and the 'Fastest Indian in the World' were born. Time for some more Sauvignon Blanc.