Day Three - Christchurch

Bright and early day today waking up at 5am to start our drive from Queenstown to Chrischurch.

As usual I slept most of the way as most of the journey were trees, sheep, trees and more sheep however we did go through a lovely snowy area that looked amazing with the snow covered mountains and trees as well as either side of the road being covered in white powdery snow it was incredible to see.

Once we got into Christchurch we drove around for a bit taking a look at the piles of rubble and half buildings that are missing bits and pieces, the cracked brick fences outside homes and the broken sidewalks it was pretty sad to see. The houses that cannot be entered back into as they are too unstable and the businesses that have just had to leave as is, it really hits home how lucky we are and the simple things we take for granted.

Apart from all of this the community here is great, no signs of defeat or devastation on anyone's faces and they more than anything are embracing what they have been through together which is just great!

We had lunch at a nice little posh cafe, I had a caesar salad it was nice but we definitely felt out of place with all the fancy decor, the BMW cars parked out the front and the attire the women were in - was no central coast that I tell you! Lol

After that we checked into our hotel, rested our feet for a quick rest then headed back into town in search of container city. It was lovely, the colours of the containers were awesome and they stood out so much creating a happy splash of colour throughout this broken city to show they are still here and will not be beaten by this.

We went to a place called Quake Experience, which was a museum dedicated to the quakes that occurred three years ago. They had quake simulators, rubble, car doors, church bells etc on display showing the damage done to them during the earthquake as well as video footage of the quake and personal stories told from those involved.

I really liked that and would totally recommend it to anyone in the area to check out to give a better understanding of what went on.

After we kept driving around a bit taking more snaps of the earthquake evidence including a visit to the local cathedral here, it was really pretty inside and out with the church choir rehearsing inside also. They had a prayer board where you could write your prayer request on a piece of paper and pin it to the board for the church to pray for your request that following Sunday in church.

I was surprised at the lack of prayer requests on the board (there was only two!) but I did the touristy thing and wrote them a prayer request pinning it to the board. I am not religious in any way but it felt nice to be apart of it in some small way, at least that's how it felt for me anyway.

We then went to a local pub for a beer and a chat before heading home to freshen up for dinner. Dinner tonight was at a Thai restaurant down the road from where we are staying, it was not the best Thai I have had but it was okay.

Whilst eating dinner it started to pour rain and snow!! It was so good to finally see as we hadn't seen any snow as yet in Queenstown and although it only snowed a tiny bit I was still excited to see it haha

Back at the hotel now, ready for a semi early night. We have a day of sightseeing tomorrow before the drive back to Queenstown to finish our holiday on a high at the slopes and for that I cannot wait.

Snow is predicted for tomorrow and Thursday in Queenstown so fingers crossed we get to see some more before we head home!

I will be back with the laptop tomorrow night and will upload my photos then :)