I've since had another 5 trips back and am now hoping to move there next year. I love the place!
I've always been drawn to the South Island and I have to say, it doesn't disappoint. I've visited the South Island on all of my visits to date and that's where I'm hoping to live.
I've managed to see quite a lot of the South Island in my travels and have a few favourite places. My plan with this blog is to share my travels and the things that have stood out for me.
I've flown in and out of Christchurch on quite a few of my trips, yet not spent a great deal of time in Christchurch. On my first trip over, it was about 20 months after the earthquake and the friends I stayed with there showed me about the city.
So much damage, so much rebuilding started but so much not yet started and not even looking like getting started. Many potholes and/or sinkholes in the road.
There were things I loved though - the pop up mall in the city made from brightly painted shipping containers that now housed some of the shops.
A large double glass door refrigerator on a vacant city block that held books for people to share. A half sized soccer pitch set up on a cleared block in the city.
These things warmed my heart, seeing a city pulling together, trying to encourage people back into the city. So much sadness, trauma and destruction and yet these little encouragements all around.
On my last trip, I spent a week in the North Island and admit doing a town a day is way too fast. It meant I saw some lovely countryside, but I also spent a LOT of time driving most days.
There are places I now want to go back to in the North Island so I can explore some more. There are also a few places I didn't visit that I'd like to see, so plans for that are brewing!
In the meantime, I'll share some of what I've enjoyed about the places I've visited.
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