We left Golden Bay and the Nelson area just before the heavy rain, flooding and landslides started and headed down the east coast of the South Island into Canterbury. Our first stop along the coast was in Kaikoura, a town known for its wildlife. You can whale watch, swim with dolphins or seals, visit bird colonies and eat crayfish (kai means food and koura means crayfish). We decided to focus on the seals and did a couple of walks in the area that went near the seal colonies. The first walk we did was a little north of Kaikoura at Ohau Point. We walked up a stream to a small pool at the base of a waterfall where seal cows take their pups to be protected from the ocean storms. At the right time of year the pool is absolutely packed with pups (check it out on youtube), but when we where there one lone pup had the whole pool to itself. The other walk we did was the Kaikoura Peninsula Walk. This walk took us along the cliffs overlooking the ocean at the very tip of the peninsula. At one point on the walk we were able to venture down the cliffs to the rocky beach where birds were nesting and there was a small seal colony.
From Kaikoura we drove through Christchurch to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. Akaroa was originally settled by French colonists who had come over in hopes of staking France’s claim to New Zealand. The town plays up its French past to get tourists to come, but the only French things left are a few street names and a flag where the settlers landed. We were told by a couple of French friends staying in town that the croissants from the bakery were not even the French style. In spite of not being as French as advertised, it is a lovely town and we spent an enjoyable day walking around, checking out the art galleries and eating local fudge.
After a relaxing day in Akaroa we made our way back to Christchurch. Christchurch is very much a city on the mend after two devastating earthquakes and an unbelievable number of aftershocks. We wanted to do our part in helping out by spending some money in the city, but this turned out to be much harder than we had imagined. The damage to Christchurch’s CBD is quite visible and the area has been declared the red zone and fenced off. We were hoping to find relocated businesses that had been in the red zone and shops around the edge of the red zone that we could patronize, but there was no place to get good information about relocated or open shops. We googled each business to get new locations and hours and were sad to find that most had not yet reopened. 
We walked around the outside of the red zone to get a sense of the damage. It was quite sobering to see the spray painted messages left on the front of buildings by the search and rescue teams. Peering in the windows of some of the buildings on the edge of cordon gave us a glimpse of the days the earthquakes happened. Personal items are visible and in restaurants you can still see plates on the tables and broken cups on the floors. On the weekend a path into the center of the red zone was opened so we went in and took a look at Cathedral Square. Most of the rubble has already been cleared away, but it was easy to get a sense of the destruction that had happened. For us the saddest part of walking around Christchurch was seeing all the empty houses near the CBD. Most of the houses had signs on them that they were safe for occupancy however they were completely empty. A few had for sale signs in front of them, but many of them looked totally abandoned.
Even with all the destruction and change going on around them the people of Christchurch were incredibly friendly and welcoming. In the southwest corner of the CBD a City Mall has been set up using shipping containers to house stores. It is beautifully done and the attitude there is incredibly positive. The farmer’s markets are also in full swing, the museum had some wonderful exhibits on display and the botanical gardens looked incredible, especially the rose garden. We are sure it will take some time, but we hope that Christchurch is able to rebuild and maintain its wonderful character.
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