Today we drove into Christchurch centre, unsure of what we'd find after the earthquake in February. As we got closer to the city centre, we saw lots of building that had either been destroyed in the quake or damaged and demolished since. There was lots of building work going on all around town and traffic was diverted away from Cathedral Square, the centre of town and the epicentre of the quake.

The entire area was sealed off with high metal fencing - it looks like it's going to take months and maybe years to get it back to anywhere near how it was.

After trying for ages to find somewhere to park, we eventually found a spot and went for a walk in the Botanic Gardens (see photo). The sun was out and we had a nice lunch there, surrounded by dozens of ducks that were drooling at the sight of our crackers! We had a quick coffee in the cafe there, then we walked over to the Cantebury Museum, on the edge of the gardens.

We then went back to the van and drove around trying to find another pioneer homestead called Mona Vale. When we eventually did find it, there was nowhere to park! We decided to give up and drove to our campsite for the night, just outside of Christchurch.

We went to explore the beach there, and Laura added a few more shells to her collection! On the way back, we got a bit lost and ended up taking a massive, unnecessary de-tour - all good exercise I suppose!

For dinner, Laura cooked us a delicious beef curry - no pasta and sauce for us tonight! A nice, comfortable holiday park and a good night's sleep!