May 20, 2014 To Christchurch

During breakfast Steve gives a call to the pilot and gets more bad news. The pilot says a storm is moving in and the only way they will fly is in a rescue. Bummer. Major Bummer. But that is the way it is and we have been so very lucky getting the flight to Milford Sound and worked in the 4 wheel drive day so no complaints. We hit the van and head to Christchurch.
We arrive in Queenstown and scout out our lodging for the night. It took a while as many of the streets just don't "go there" straight away like they used to before the earthquake, but after using a life-line "call to a freind" Steve finds our place... What a great place this is! Classic Villa, we give our highest recommendations too. Very nice people to sit down and have a chat with.

Of course we all heard of the major earthquake that hit Christchurch 3 years ago but to see the damage in downtown is painful. Downtown is littered with old buildings and not so old building held up by supporting beams. They are still in the demo stage after three years.

The quake shut down the shopping and a lot of people were out of work. Here is where you must love the spirt of the New Zealand folks. The problem - no shoppers. The solution - put up temporary shops. The method - bring in shipping crates and name the area "Restart Mall". It is a kick to walk the area and see the shops in full operation and full of shoppers and some high end shopping. You guessed it, some of our group shopped. I am thinking we will get an award from the Chamber of Commerce for assisting the economy!

We like this town and the spirt it holds. It is a beautiful place and we stay tonight in the most charming B & B ever finish off our last night in New Zealand. Our flight to Syndney leaves at 7 AM so we rise at the un-godly hour of 3AM. A three hour flight away is Australia and it is exciting to think of the adventures that await. Good thing too because it is hard to leave beautiful New Zealand and the friendly people. Everyone had a smile for us and our guides Veronika and Steve made our stops and days here so very special.

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