Walking around Christchurch with a kettle

Walking around Christchurch with a kettle

Our first night in Ermintrude was pretty good, considering we crashed at 9pm again.  She has a permanent bed, so we don’t have to rearrange the accommodation at night, and it proved to be very comfortable.  The only downside is that there is no space on either side of the bed, so you have to exit at the foot end in the dark.  Which we managed to do , thus also christening the loo!

Next day, our plan was to take the bus into the city centre.  The 60 is the most circuitous bus route ever; it took 50 minutes to get into the bus interchange – about which we are now experts!

Our first task was to buy an electric kettle.  There was meant to be one in the van, but they don’t include them any more because “people don’t want them”.  Well, we want one so we finally located The Warehouse and acquired the cheapest kettle possible.  We then had to carry it around with us for the rest of the day.

Next stop was lunch.  As we were determined to sample all the local delicacies, we popped into a Vietnamese restaurant!

We managed to see most of the big sites in Christchurch including Cathedral Square, Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens, the Museum and Re:START, a shopping centre built from shipping containers that was set up after the 2011 earthquake.

In fact, everywhere you go you see evidence of devastation caused by the earthquake in the form of broken buildings, empty plots and undulating roads.  Recovery is going to take years.

At some point in the afternoon we realised that there is one thing you don’t see in Christchurch – Starbucks.  Or any other coffee chain for that matter.  Let’s hope that they can make that stick!

Thanks to a heads up from Simon, we had dinner driving around Christchurch in a tram.  The tram in question was converted into a 36-seater restaurant with a tiny kitchen and even tinier toilet!  During three circuits of the city we were served a four-course meal plus coffee.  The chef did a pretty good job within the constraints, although I’d take the web site’s description of it being “the finest service, cuisine and beverages New Zealand has to offer” with a pinch of sea salt.

Which just left us to catch the 60 back to our camp site.  Tomorrow we’re on the move again.