Christchurch

We drove to Christchurch this morning and booked into a proper campsite to do our laundry etc before leaving New Zealand tomorrow. We walked into the City centre and were surprised at how devastated it still is after the earthquake in 2011. The city centre consists of loads of closed down businesses, some half falling down and other places where everything has been knocked down. They are starting to rebuild but slowly.

There is a small area where there are pop up shops and coffee bars and also a few bars and restaurants but they are all scattered all over the place so quite difficult to find at first. The other thing there are lots of are monuments to the people who lost their lives ... 185 in total. This photo is of one of them. They are happy for you to sit and reflect on these monuments. A very strange and sad city.

We ended up having a few drinks and some food in a bar before heading back to camp. Last night sleeping in the van!