Our next point of call was Christchurch, where we were to spend a couple of nights staying with friends of Graham’s family from their days in Indonesia. We stopped on the way to take some photos of the beautiful drive.

The McKenzie family had sadly lost their home in the earthquakes a few years ago. They now live in a lovely house on the outskirts of the city. It was very interesting to hear first hand accounts of the disaster that affected so many people in this part of the world.

We also heard lots of amusing stories about their time living in Asia, and some tales about Graham’s parents too. My favourite story was about the McKenzie children setting off for a day of tubing down the river, towing a duck purchased in the market behind them. At lunch time they stopped to cook and eat the duck before continuing on their way.

We had one day to explore the city. Christchurch isn’t really a tourist destination, and most of the city was destroyed in the quakes. We went into the centre and there was a huge amount of building work ongoing. A lot of the shops were destroyed and there is now a mall built out of shipping containers.

We also visited the Botanic Gardens, and then took a drive to the coast for some fish and chips. The rest of the afternoon was spent tasting wine at a lovely little vineyard.