Today, we had planned to go scuba diving, but with the weather, and the limited visibility, decided to skip it. The conditions were uncertain in terms of visibility and quality of sea life in the area. We were a little sad to miss the opportunity but pressed on.
On our way to Christchurch, we stopped by a couple of wineries for some tastings, but you can't do too many tastings before having to stop for a while, and we needed to get some driving done.
After a quick lunch, we headed for Christchurch to see the old city. Much of the place is still in ruins after the 2011 earthquake. There are plenty of old brick structures that are fenced off and scaffolds around them. Many have steel bars and supports latched to them to keep them from falling over. The most notable condemned building was the Cathedral, which had lost its entire front facade and neighboring tower. It was quite impressive to see that the old city has still not recovered from the quake 3 years ago.
Christchurch had a beautiful botanical gardens which had many magnificent trees including a California redwood and a gigantic eucalyptus tree. It was well worth the walk around. After this, we headed for Akoura to check in to our place for the evening.
Tonight, I am blogging from a farm. We are doing something called a farmstay, where we are getting to stay in some cabins on a farm, complete with a henhouse, a milk cow, and lots of sheep. It's a bit rustic since our electricity tonight is running from two car batteries underneath our shed, but it is actually quite fun. We are heading straight to bed tonight anyway.
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