A road trip which is to be a mix of glamping in a camper and luxury in a lakeside cottage and as only 2020 can do it began with an ever changing set of circumstances alert levels which changed flight bookings which changed accomodation. On the day of our cancelled flight, for which we were now on standby, we make the decision to simply go to the airport and wait and see. And see they did, so with masked donned, hand baggage only, we board the plane.
Our next problem was one that came right out of the blue, a fire at Aoraki/Mt Cook where we had booked our first couple of nights. We watched the leaping flames on the news and booked a room in Christchurch.
It had been a long time since we had been in the city and it was great to see how far it had come and also sad to see how far it had to go. The 2020 word “Resilience” must be one that belonged to Christchurch long before the rest of the country captured it for COVID.
it was cold and wet and we sat on the tram, with a conductor, come tour quide who gave us and two others a personal tour.
The parks are beautiful, the Margaret Mahy playground magical, and perhaps it’s the weather but the streets are quiet, the parks are empty and with a vista from our inner city hotel window of Lots and lots of parking lots, half demolished buildings, sparkly new library, nearly completed convention centres and new returnees treading laps behind barricades around and around.
The beauty imprinted on walls at a time of tragedy are soon to be covered by progress. Ten years down the track is a long time, what they achieved is amazing, what they have yet to do is incredible.
For Christchurch, RESILIENCE has to be it is your badge and you should wear it with pride.