"I feel like I'm in an episode of The Walking Dead"

Christchurch:: Tuesday 27 Dec - Wednesday 28 Dec
Worst journey of the trip so far - 8 hours in the heat with no aircon. Brilliant. It was so long and we had to say goodbye to everyone. Our destination was Christchurch, which had just suffered yet another earthquake, so there was an element of worry.

We knew that there is a 'red zone' and you can't go through that for safety, but nothing can prepare you properly until you actually see it. To be honest, I'm pleased I'm only here for one day.. I feel like I'm in an episode for the walking dead and I am the only alive person left.. it's empty here and the streets feel weird when walking around them. They've built a shopping complex, out of cargo containers, which looks fab, but they're only the expensive shops, I don't understand why they did that - where are the basic shops that people actually need?! The Council are obviously looking to tourism, but seriously, it's been nearly a year since the first quake and nothing seems to have been rebuilt. I feel so sorry for the people who live here, even the Crown Plaza hotel looks like the quake happened yesterday, or that there's something major happening right now. But nevertheless, it was interesting to come here and see it for myself.
After dinner, we watched Inglorious Bastards, it was really good actually (I know, never seen it) and the manager made us popcorn, which was a lovely gesture.
The only tourist attraction open was the Cantebury Museum, so it would seem stupid not to check that out.. and it was really good. Another Maori Section (I've come to realise it would be odd to be in a museum without one now) and a really good 'Wearable Art' exhibition, which I could have stayed in for hours. Antarctic was also a plus.

After a walk through the botanical gardens, we got our stuff together and went to the airport to catch our flight back to Auckland. We met with Virginia and Bex (Vicky's friends) and had a starbucks and then stayed in the worst hostel ever.