Day 2 in New Zealand

I still can't believe we're here. I see signs that say "New Zealand" and think to myself, "that's so exotic, wouldn't it be fun to go there... Oh wait, never mind." Old habits...

We had a brief layover in Aukland on the North Island and then continued on to Christchurch on the South Island where we'll be spending the rest of our trip.

Austin loved Christchurch when he visited a few years back and everyone else he knows who has been had only the best things to say about it. However, that was before the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Not to say I don't love it, but the central business district (CBD), which was the center of this quaint, hip city, is now cordoned off because of the damaged and unsafe structures. Taking a natural disaster course this semester is giving me more insight into the events that took place here, and this city is giving me more insight into my class. We went to a quake museum yesterday to learn about what happened. Reportedly, even though the February 2011 quake was only a M 6.3, the way it caused the soil to move created the most ground movement ever recorded in human history.

As an urban planning student, it's interesting to see the designs Christchurch is considering to replace the many empty lots as well as what they are doing in the meantime to accommodate businesses and customers. One group built an outdoor cafe from painted pallets, where we grabbed a soda and coffee.

The Re: start Mall is made from modified shipping containers and was filled with people, music, and commerce. It was uplifting to see the resilience and creativity of the city. I still really like it here.

Somewhat predictably, I have been thinking more and more about the positive effects of trees on urban areas and will be writing some papers this semester on that topic. Christchurch and New Zealand in general clearly understand this. Flying out of Auckland and into Christchurch, there was so much green. And it's fall here now, so the leaves are beginning to change, which makes it all the more lovely. We spent a few hours in the Botanic garden too, which had many large, spectacular trees--perfect for us tree-huggers.

Fun facts that I didn't know about NZ (pronounced "en zed" here): they are one hour behind Hawaii but one day ahead. (We lost Saturday on our crossing over the International Dateline and will be getting an extra Monday on the way back--Worst. Trade. Ever.) People here are very friendly, even to Americans. Food and drinks are so expensive here--the exchange rate is close to even with USD being a little more valuable... Phew! This is the first time I've gone to another country that has wifi available in hotels and cafés. It's pretty handy. (Though, not free in all places; hence taking days to post this even though I wrote it a few days ago.)