Day Eleven- Akaroa/Christchurch, New Zealand

Because of the earthquake in Christchurch it was necessary for us to dock in Akaroa which is 50 miles from Christchurch.  There was over $400 million dollars of damage to the harbor in Christchurch so it may be many years before ships will dock there again.  Akaroa is the one area that was settled by the French and there is some French heritage in the street names.

Did you kow that New Zealiand is the largest dairy exporter and one of the world's most productive agricultural nations.  Sheep outnumber humans 15-1.

I skipped the pictures of sheep which I did take along this drive but I did want you to see the absolutely beautiful countryside.

This is the damage in Christchurch.

We were in a van where the speaker was broken and we were in the back seat so we often had a hard time hearing or seeing what he was talking about be the pictures I did get give a vivid enough picture of the horrible damage.  They had just reopened the downtown area the day before we got there.  I don't remember the date of the quake but it had been months.

There were many schools, churches, businesses and landmarks damaged but the saddest ones for me were the old masterpieces.  There were many, many storage containers being used to prop things up.

We were told that every spare room anywhere is full because people had to move out of their homes and apartments and there are so many insurance adjusters and specialists checking everything out that the place is over full.  It was overwhelming to see what could happen in such a short time.

As you can read on the placque, this monument is made from steel from the World Trade Center.  It is a tribute to firefighters from around the world who came to help.  It was tender for me to see the earthquake damage next to the tribute.

He took us to the US Antartica Center.  The tickets were very expensive so we chose not to go in but it is interesting to know that it exists.