Christchurch, NZ

Christchurch has been described to us by locals as being a doughnut city. The past Earthquakes have shattered a lot of infrastructure, that remain to be built or repaired. Rubble sits everywhere intermixed with brand new huge construction sites. It's a bizarre feeling to walk around in the core downtown and see carnage stricken buildings in shambles right next to preppy commercial shops with hip music blasting inside. The culture feels lost here along with people's hope to rebuild. Red tape and the paper pushers behind it all seem to not really care about the damage looking to move on to new things. A lot of condemned buildings have been invaded by graffiti artists that have smashed windows defacing them. On another note they have opened up the city to huge murals for artists to leave inspiring displays on buildings.
We have been staying at a nice Airbnb with a great host on the outskirts of the city. Slowing things down for a few days has been really nice for us and not having to get up, pack then drive for the day to the next destination. We took a quick trip out to Akaroa for a nice walk and grabbed a coffee along the way, of course!Read more