Loring's New Zealand Trip blog: NZ Post #9, South to Dunedin

April 20-23, 2013.
South to Dunedin

Introduction:

The South Island mountains have no tops. Don’t believe those tourist promo photos you see: they actually just rise a couple hundred meters then turn gray and become sky.

Proof: To the right, our un-retouched photo of the NZ Southern Alps, taken from near Christchurch.

Compare to the postcard below:
“Christchurch at Dawn”: clearly Photoshopped? Reader, you be the judge.

Well--on to Dunedin.

It rained and it rained and it rained and it rained.

The average fall was well maintained.

And when the roads were simply bogs,

It started raining cats and dogs.

After a drought of half an hour,

We had a most delightful shower.

And then, most curious thing of all,

A gentle rain began to fall.

Next day was also fairly dry,

Save for a deluge from the sky,

Which wetted us right to the skin;

And after that--the rain set in.

--Anonymous.

[Transcribed by Ed Harrow from a hut on one of NZ’s Great Walks; and entered in Ann Richards’ and and John Coolidge’s Three-Point Camp log.]

Sun. 21 April we continued south on SH1: Cheviot, Greta Valley, Waipara, Glasnevin, Amberley, Leithfield, Waikuku, Woodend, Kaiapoi, Christchurch (stopped), Rakaia, Ashburton, Temuka, Washdyke, Timaru (stopped); Oamaru. Coast and fields and hills and the usual endless pastures of cows, or sheep.

Christchurch was very sad. They appear not to have recovered much in the long term from the devastating 2010/2011 earthquakes, and that is indeed what many Kiwis told us. Apparently the immediate crisis response was impressively well-organized and effective, during the state of emergency. This is the Kiwi style of sucking it up, rolling up the sleeves and just getting the job done. But now the ravaged city is languishing. Beyond the impact on lives lost, on individuals, on families and on the city’s social fabric, the earthquakes have had a staggering impact on New Zealand’s economy, which the entire country will be dealing with for decades to come.

To our tourists’ eyes, little is now happening. Much of the heart of downtown is still cordoned off and unusable. There are still thousands of condemned or damaged buildings elsewhere in the city as well, which have not been either torn down and replaced, or repaired. There also was very little traffic and activity overall--and this in the middle of a weekday work day.

Some political liberals blame the lack of progress on the conservative government currently in power, which we were told decided not to tax citizens overall for Christchurch recovery but to leave it all to the insurance companies and the private sector. Or perhaps the task of restoring and rebuilding the second-biggest city in New Zealand, which formerly had a population of 363,200, is an overwhelming job for a country with a population of just over four million. For whatever reason, over two years after the second and more devastating earthquake (since which there have been hundreds of aftershocks), there is no atmosphere of bustle, hope and rebuilding, but an atmosphere of melancholy. We’ll hope that there is more going on than we observed, and that our impressions were skewed by a dark and rainy day.

We spent a lot of time in Christchurch's beautiful Botanical Garden.

Fantastic bed of ground covers

Mike by yet another fantastic tree, also in the Gardens

Even in the fall, there were masses of roses still blooming. And the "Pinetum", with exotic conifers from all over the world, was very impressive. Here also, cordoned-off and condemned buildings.

LS enjoying the Botanic Gardens (yep, still raining)

Timaru: We stopped here to give the drivers a break; it is a charming town with a lovely public park near the sea. And the rain had slowed to a mere drizzle.

Part of the park at Timaru

Oamaru: This town has some beautifully preserved stone buildings in a handsome Victorian old town which we toured in the pouring--really pouring-- rain. We scurried into The Last Post restaurant (triple pun--more on that later, maybe), where we huddled at the table nearest the fire and gently warmed and steamed during a delicious dinner.

Here’s how Mike phrased the current trip to a colleague at the Uni:

“Thank you for your note. I am afraid we are a bit damp.

Moderate rain as we drove to Wellington last Wednesday.

Serious rain as we walked around Wellington, saw Te Papa and took the ferry to Picton last Thursday.

More rain as we gave up on Abel Tasman and toured Blenheim and Renwick last Friday.

Serious rain on Saturday as we drove from Blenheim to Cheviot with a stop to look at seal pups.

And something close to a downpour as we went through Christchurch and down to Oamaru today.

And rain predicted for tomorrow as we drive to Dunedin.

On the basis of our personal experience, there is nothing higher than 600 meters to be seen in all of South Island.”

Mon. 22 April: Oamaru to Dunedin. We made it to Dunedin! SH1 AGAIN south to Dunedin at last. Royally hosted at the University of Otago’s Executive Residence, since Mike was a visiting scholar. By sheer chance, we learned of a Benjamin Britten concert, we went, the music was beautifully sung and played.

Cathedral where we heard the Britten

Dunedin Town Hall--what we saw when we left the cathedral after the Britten concert.

Tues. 23 April: Dunedin. Mike spoke to the University of Otago's Faculty of Law; we touristed about Dunedin admiring handsome old stone buildings during the light rain.

Univ. of Otago Campus. NOT the Law School.

This, alas, is the Law School. But hey, it has a great view of the handsome parts of the campus.

Statue of Justice on the city's Law Court

LS took a bird-watching boat tour out the harbor past Otago Peninsula to sea. Albatrosses! More albatrosses! [Albatri?] Cold and wet at sea, but seeing the nesting colony of albatross youngsters, and the parents landing and feeding them, then taking off and sailing and floating across the waves, with their nine-foot wing spans, was extraordinary. Very lucky with the weather (truly!), because the worse the weather the more likely you will see the albatross.

Dunedin has an extraordinarily beautiful train station. Here's the exterior, and some views of the interior.