Santa Claus found us fit and happy sharing Christmas with our new found friends at the Karamea Domain campsite. The weather around the 24th and 25th was dreadful so Ken and I stayed in the bunkhouse at the campground, warm and dry. Christmas Day was spent walking for a few hours up the bottom end of the Heafy Track, visiting the Oparara Caves and sharing a potluck dinner with two other couples that were also staying at the campsite. The rain let-up on the 26th so we headed south along the coast which is very nice, different than in the north as it is rocky and the beaches are much more dramatic. Our trip down the coast road consisted of many stops to take pictures including a stop at Punakaiki or Pancake Rocks and a few more walks before we headed across to Christchurch to visit our friends Shaun, Charlie and little Cody.
Christmas dinner, from right to left, Roger and Yvette(from Holland), Kelly(US)and James(Australia) and of course Ken and I.
The Christmas main consisting of Beef Burritos with Rroasted Vegetables and Ham, for starters we had soup with Spinach Salad topped with warm Mushrooms and Zucchini. Anything but conventional but yummy.
A stormy walk up the bottom few hours of the Heafy Track(one of NZ's Great Walks).
Damp weather but still nice for walking.
Blue Penguins are suppost to be seen along the coast on the rocks and borrowing into banks but we didn't see any :(
The Coast Highway winds along the shores joining beaches and cliff sides.
Pancake Rocks, layers of sandstone eroded by time and weather.
Just another great campsite at the Marble Hills DOC campground located in the Lewis Pass, at the head of the Lake Daniells Track. The Track was a nice 17km that we did before lunch and leaving the next day.
There are lots of birds here, this little guy just kept hanging around waiting for a crumb to drop.
The hut on Lake Daniell. There are over 1000 huts located in NZ for the use of trampers. By the way, I found out that a 'tramp' is when you hike with a pack and a 'walk' is not.
Tucked in, in the back of Deep Purple.
Ken, Charlie and Shaun carrying Cody on our walk around the 'Crater Rim' trail in Port Hills.
Lining the road an art exhibit consisting of muraled containers, which just happen to be placed against the red bluffs where houses hang percariously over the edge of the bluff, also keeps rubble from falling on the area below.
Christchurch
Christchurch was hit by a major Earthquake in 2010, along with many after shocks, that devastated the city. Even though we had heard about the quake the full extent of the damage done in the city didn't really register until we arrived and saw it with our own eyes.
A Quake City museum was established with lots of pictures and movies with accounts of what happened that day from survivors and the people who worked as emergency response.
Ken and Shaun look at photos of the damage done in the earthquake, behind them is a full size picture of one the streets in the city after the disaster.
The back of the doorin the bathroom in 'Quake City', pictures on the Long Drops or Outhouses the people had to use after a lot of the infrastructure was distroyed. In some cases a portable outhouse was dropped off on a street corner in a subdivision and all the people who lived on that block had to us it...if they were allowed to stay in their homes. In many cases now, empty houses line the streets. Red zones that will never be inhabitable again.
In the downtown core, which was hard hit, many businesses that where torn down because of damage now use containers as storefronts.
Yes, even the bank...portable...hmmm!
Happy New Year from Walter and I. Keep having fun! Brenda
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