Admittedly it was a bit hard to leave the North Island – we’d had so many amazing experiences it was hard to imagine there’d be anything to match it. This was also the juncture when Ruthie was parting ways with us to continue her travels with her friend, Tori, to see other parts of North Island and then get home. Ruthie had been to many of the places we were heading to on the South Island and she needed to get back to her work as well. We love traveling with her – and any buddies she brings along – and we already have plans for some more joint global mischief later this year.
We flew from Auckland to Christchurch the day before a bike tour we’d booked months earlier, and spent the first night as the invited guests of a group of cancer patients/survivors and carers hosted by the local advocacy and support organization. As always, these gatherings are a mutually supportive exchange.
Meeting with cancer patients and care partners 
The first thing I noticed when landing and starting our time on the South Island was how very different the landscape is from its counterpart up north. The North Island definitely felt very tropical – a lot like Hawaii in its vegetation, humidity, and overall flat-to-rolling hills terrain. We found the South Island to be a patchwork of arid, drier farmscapes, more sheep than people (yep), and later, dramatic peaks, beautiful waterfalls and lush, deep canyons that actually reminded me of the Andes in Ecuador. We got to experience all of these settings on our Alps to Ocean bike ride – the subject of my next entry…
Christchurch had experienced a couple of very severe earthquakes a few years ago – many people died in the central business district of the city, and the city is clearly still recovering and rebuilding. There are still vacant lots where long-standing building were, and the central cathedral is still in reconstruction. A cool thing about this situation is that there is obviously lots of care being taken to rebuild not only with physical building stability but with design flair. Many of the new buildings have the visual signature of thoughtful and creative architects, and others have worked hard to retain the original style of the city.
Now, hopping on those bikes…
Esther
Living La Vida Loca 