Canterbury museum and Kaikoura

After a couple of days rest we move on to another cousin. On Sunday we go to the Canterbury museum in Christchurch. It’s very interesting. We see the skeleton of a moa and several scenes of the first Maori’s in New Zealand. A lot of their weapons and food artefacts. A few cloaks the chiefs wore back then and much more.
There is an exhibition of 75 years Air New Zealand. It shows the uniforms they have worn through the years and the interior of some planes as they were. It is very interactive and there are a lot of thing kids can do and play with. The kids can design their own plane and after they are finished you can send it to your email. Dress up like a captain or flight attendant. Videos about the developments in airplanes and lots more, very interesting. We also enter a simulator and then we have VR glasses on. We fly off into the future, airplanes where you can see through the walls or see the country or city you are flying to. Or just make a choice and go to your favourite spot on earth. We take a break for a cup of coffee and then Rosie has a fever and we have to go home. Hopefully she will feel better in the morning.
Luckily she does and so we go to Kaikoura on Monday morning.
Get up early because it is a long drive. By nine o’clock we are ready to go. Getting closer to Kaikoura we see earthquake damage, part of mountains that slipped down, crash barriers that sunk besides the road or got crooked. Road damage and collapses around the train tunnels. With Kaikoura in sight we stop besides the road. Here you can see the damage of the earthquake. A lot of the bottom of the see rose above the see level. You can walk on it and we collect a lot paua shells and other shells. We find a bone, probably from a seal. There is a pub on the other side of the road. The mountain behind it has partial come down during the earthquake. Must have been scary. Nowhere to run.
A bit further on the road we make another stop. On the left there is damage to the rails, a lot of debris on it and big rocks. But on the right, on the other side of the road there are New Zealand fur seals. We count 15 of them but we discover a lot more. They are playing in the water or just sunbathing. There are a few pups among them and it is fun to look at them.
Finally we come in Kaikoura, it is a lovely place and I can imagine normally it will be very busy in summer. It is quit now. We have a picnic lunch near the beach and near a playground. The seagulls can’t wait till we have finished lunch. When you pretend you throw something, there will be 20 of them within seconds. We have a beautiful view over the bay. It is very nice here.
We can’t go on the whale watch boats. They can leave and enter the harbour only for a few hours, so there are just a couple a day and the ones for today are fully booked. But hey, we didn’t expect to be here at all so this is extra already. Besides we now have a reason to come back once more to this beautiful country. We have a good view around the town and enjoy the sunny day after all the rain yesterday. We see a huge Maori statue, which has to do with the whale hunt in ancient days.
Far too soon it is time to go back home. We have another route back, the inland road. On this road we see lots of damage, the road has waves in it and we have to cross a bailey bridge that was made because the normal bridge is hanging to one side. A bridge that is somewhat lower in the middle because it sunk a bit. On a part of the road a detour is needed because of the stone and rockfall on it. Holes in the road, shingle parts because the road had collapsed. But finally we are on normal roads again. We pass frog rock, you can stop there now and people are on top of frog rock. We finally are home again after a very lovely day.