Kiwi Land, Part II

Location: outside Cantebery museum, Christchurch

Date: 26 May 2012

Time: 5:40 AM (New Zealand local time)

My first impression of New Zealand: it’s cold.

My flight was uneventful (as always, that’s good).  I didn’t sleep, though, so I’m running on fumes.  We landed in Christchurch about a half hour early.  Customs was a breeze.  They’re really particular about bringing any contaminated organic matter into New Zealand, for fear of disrupting local ecosystems, so they actually x-ray your bag upon arrival.  Of course, I had no food (consequentially, I’m hungry), and hopped on the shuttle to the Cantebery Museum, where the first leg of my bus tour starts.

I must have mentioned in my last post that Christchurch was hit badly by an earthquake a few years back.  It didn’t quite register in my mind how bad it actually was here until the shuttle driver pointed out all the damage.  Virtually all of the stone churches, the ones that put the “church” in Christchurch, have collapsed or were severely damaged.  Unfortunately, it would be too expensive to rebuild them all, so they have to pick and choose which ones to fix.  Some 1,300 buildings are slated for demolition, including some very new buildings.

As you might imagine, life is tough in Christchurch.  The CBD is closed off for demolition.  There is scaffolding everywhere, surrounding piles of rubble.  Pubs were moved into shipping containers. The tourism industry is gone.  If it wasn’t for the fact that the airport is here, there would be no visitors at all.  Apparently something like 4,000 residents leave each week.

Christchurch continues to get earthquakes in series.  This morning they had a 5.2 magnitude shake, but with no liquefaction.  It was very shallow, though (only about 10 km below the surface), which made it feel stronger than it was.  In fact, the shuttle driver told me not to stand under the awning of the museum, because the structural integrity of almost all the stone buildings is in question.  People say it’s not unheard of for them to get five or six quakes in one day.  I can’t imagine how badly that would suck.

It’s crazy to think something like this could happen in a well-developed first-world country like New Zealand.  It’s devastating, really.  But all this doesn’t change my attitude towards this trip.  I’m still wicked excited.  (And still wicked cold.)  The bus arrives at 7AM, and then I’m off west through the mountains towards Greymouth.  Stay tuned!