We left Timaru about 9:15am and began driving north. The terrain was very similar to the route from Dunedin to Timaru except this time we could catch glimpses of the southern Alps to the west of us. We were just crossing the Rakaia river bridge when the traffic came to a complete stop for about 20 minutes. When it finally started moving again, we discovered an accident on the north side. It looked like a truck had collided with a car and then tried to make a run for it before the effects of the accident disabled the truck. The other vehicle was about 300 metres up the road surrounded by emergency vehicles. The lineup of cars heading south had to be 10 km long. Thank goodness we were heading north. Apparently there is a holiday in south Canterbury with a big springtime show in Christchurch this weekend with horse races all next week. So everyone from ChCh is getting out of town and all the outsiders coming for the show are arriving. Considering the number of vehicles we passed, I was surprised there was anyone left in ChCh. We got to our campsite in ChCh about 11:30 and decided to explore downtown ChCh. I wish. now that I hadn't gone there. The devastation from the 2011 earthquake was quite amazing with whole city blocks destroyed. The ChCh cathedral which was a magnificent building is half destroyed. There used to be a wonderful vibrant town centre all around the cathedral. That area is now vacant lots or holes in the ground. There were hardly any people downtown. Some of the shops have created what they call a Renew Centre where they have put up shops in large shipping containers. They have done a good job of decorating them and have installed glass to give them an open look but it still does not really give much room. I talked to the campsite owner and he said during the week, it is not very nice because all the reconstruction is going on. It is going to take a long time before ChCh downtown is once again a vibrant downtown. I hope everything goes well. I know I left the downtown feeling very depressed about what had happened and how everything looks. Jos, apparently the NZ Herald is not even delivered to the South Island anymore. I checked at a Whitcouls and was told it had been stopped quite some time ago.