The ship docked at 8am at Lyttleton just outside Christchurch and by 8.30 we were on a coach taking us on today’s tour. An overcast but warm start to the day with bright blue skies by the afternoon. We dove a short distance into Christchurch and toured the city for a short time. We saw some of the effects of the series of drastic earthquakes in 2010/11. We saw the memorial garden to the people who died, the temporary Cathedral and the currently being restored Cathedral. We heard of the ways in which the old buildings were restored and strengthened after the quake and the new regulations and solutions employed in designing new buildings. In some areas houses had to be removed and the land can no longer be used for residential developments. We continued our journey to take us across the Canterbury Plain, this is the largest flat area in the country and is the main agricultural area. Our ultimate destination was a 2500 acre station (farm) in the foothills of the Southern Alps. We transferred to another vehicle for an off-road drive taking us up to a viewpoint for views of the mountains above and the river below. We had lunch and the moved down to the river to a jet boat for a fast trip up and down the river. The river was a beautiful shade of blue due to the minerals brought don from the glaciers in the high mountains. The river is also very shallow and at times there was only a few centimetres of water beneath us. We were taken at high speeds between the rocks and did a series of 360 degree spins. A very exciting afternoon. Eventually time for the return trip to the ship in time for tea.
