Due to lack of funds, me and Nick headed to Christchurch hoping to find a two week temping job. When we first got to there we were still in the camping spirit and found a nice camp site. It was OK, quite far out of town though, so we quickly found a hostel instead.
We went out looking for jobs on our first day and we found one. We were laborers. We put up shelves, painted machinery, hung out with the work men. We were laborers in a toilet factory. this was not enjoyable for me! And Nick had to do all the work as I was not strong enough to build shelves and take down racking! It was a bit ridiculous and we only lasted a week (probably the longest week of my life!). Over now though and we did need to money.
Christchurch is beautiful, I would have loved to have seen the city before the devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, from what is left you can see how beautiful it once was. It is coming back together though, and various artists have made the most out of a bad situation. For example they have 'gap fillers' which are unique things all over the city, such as a bar made out of broken down trams, a shopping mall made out of shipping containers and a fridge on the side of the road which is a book swap shop.
Before we sold Jo (our little car) we took a final road trip to the Brighton beach in on the edge of Christchurch. It was a lovely day and we had lunch in a little cafe and walked along the sea front and down the pier.
It's pretty easy to get lost in Christchurch as obviously you cannot walk through the Red Zone, which is the whole centre of the city! So if you get lost in it, you need to go all the way around! Its best to keep a map with you at all times, as often people you ask for directions are also quite lost.
Christchurch is the garden city. I went for a run most days and saw something new in the gardens every time. We had a little explore around the Botanic gardens and we saw a lot of cute ducklings as we were just coming into spring time.
We did the Red Zone bus tour into what was once the square, and we saw what remained of the cathedral. It was quite sad really, there is 182 white chairs at the entrance to the red zone, which symbolize all the lives lost in both the earthquake. It was also quite informative, we learnt about the after affects of the quakes and what buildings can and cannot be restored.
The general vibe in Christchurch isn't mellow as you would think, it is actually quite the opposite, people are excited about what they can create for their new city, and there is a lot of hype around 'The New Christchurch'.
We sold our car whilst in Christchurch and luckily made the same money back that we spent! So we were very happy about that. It felt like we were there a lot longer than 2 weeks, we were just waiting for our flight to Australia, and once you have done the Red Zone tour and seen the Gardens there is not really that much to do in Christchurch without a car (or money!). We would definitely go back though, we want to see what it looks like when they have put it all back together again.
Sarah
xxx
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