By land and by sea today. We road by coach to Akaroa to board a day trip boat with the friendliest crew in the South Pacific, plus Buster the dolphin spotting dog as a bonus. It was a nice sunny day to be on the water in Akaroa Harbor. A frenchman had purchased land in Akarao and had planned to bring french setters there in 1840, just before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. When the brits learned of the french plan, they raced to Akaroa and raised the union jack before the french arrived. However, the french must have impressed someone as being the good sort of immigrant, despite tensions between the brits and the french; the immigrants were given some land rights and the town has a french flavor to this day.
We had time for a lunch bite, and chose really good fish and chips. New Zealand does fish and chips right— they are the best I’ve had anywhere in the world, including fresh Atlantic cod and haddock in New England. Maybe it’s the more delicate Pacific fish or maybe it’s the batter. It doesn’t hurt that it’s standard to have aioli as a sauce choice, either. I was reserved about eating fish and chips during the first three weeks, but resolved to sample as often as it’s an option for the rest of our visit.
We rode back to Christchurch for a walking tour in the afternoon. Christchurch suffered two devastating earthquakes, one in 2010 and another a few months later in 2011. It is clearly still on everyone’s mind; perhaps most appropriate to say that those who lived through the earthquake will always have some form of trauma from it. The city is only partially rebuilt. There are around 28 buildings that are called “dirty buildings,” where the insurance claims and the future of the building have not been resolved yet. So the city has some areas that look odd: an old, historic building next to a new one, with open lots and great murals in places where damaged buildings were removed, and some totally vacant buildings.
Notably, the famous Anglican cathedral has not been rebuilt. Repairs have been started, but at the moment the project is “mothballed,” because it is just too expensive (and most New Zealanders do not identify as Anglican.) I can understand not having the funds to rebuild a cathedral, but is is sad to have such an unfinished construction site right in the city.
Two very cool street murals.
The University of Christchurch was moved out of the center of the city many years ago. Its very British style campus is now an art center. Ernest Rutherford, whose discoveries help form the model for the structure of the atom, and has been described as the father of nuclear physics, had his “den” on this campus. I only saw one old scientist on our visit though:
