Making friends in Christchurch

Even three years later, some ares are still in need of repair

Our bus arrived in Christchurch around 7 p.m., and we were scheduled to meet Paul, our next farm host, there. This led us to awkwardly sauntering towards and smiling at random passersby, until a few minutes later Paul approached us. As we drove through Christchurch he pointed out how many buildings were under construction, a lingering effect of the catastrophic earthquake a few years ago. Paul had been downtown when the magnitude 6.3 tremor (actually considered an aftershock of the September 4, 2010 quake) destroyed many buildings in the area and took the lives of 185 people. Despite the somber subject we enjoyed getting to know one another on the way to the farm.

Home stretch

Current abode on the left, sweet new dream house on the right

When we arrived, we were greeted by Elizabeth, their two children, and a piping hot dinner. After a delicious meatball feast, we were shown to our cozy caravan. Paul and Elizabeth had lived in the caravan when they had first moved onto the land and now they lived in a nice prefab unit while finishing up construction on their dream home. We helped a little with finishing touches on the house, sanding and urethaning window sills. Paul and Elizabeth had been working on the building for a few years and always joked that they would be done "in about six weeks." but those words were finally starting to ring true.

Making
 "monkey bread"
(banana bread)
with the kids

We really enjoyed our time with our hosts and often split our days between working outside and hanging out with the kids, who were pretty awesome. They were home-schooled, very bright, and free to pursue any creative projects that took their fancy. The latest was building dollhouses and miniatures out of shoeboxes, cardboard, duct tape, and whatever other bits and pieces were laying around. We both tapped into our miniature-making skills from when we were kids, and helped make everything from books made out of newspaper pages, mirrors made out of tinfoil and toilets made out of toilet paper tubes.

Berry plot

Because of their accent (reminiscent of a genteel British lilt), the kids always seemed proper and well-behaved, regardless of what shenanigans they were actually up to.

Chicken tractor

Since autumn was drawing to a close, we helped winterize their garden. This included taking the bird netting off the large structure protecting their berry patch, and eating a few super delicious late-season strawberries. We also helped care for their chickens, and did a little chicken coop remodeling.

Christchurch botanic garden specimen

Chicken dinner

"185 Empty Chairs" memorial honoring the earthquake victims

One day Elizabeth and the kids went into Christchurch, and Randy went with them. He walked around, exploring the botanical gardens and checking out downtown, while Holly spent a lovely day relaxing.
We got along really well with John, Elizabeth, and their kids, and one of the best parts was, we were finally among fellow gamers! Every night we played either Monopoly Deal, Struggle for Catan, Bananagrams, or 10,000 (a dice game). It was great fun, and we were sorry to have such a short stay.
When it was time for us to leave, it just so happened that our next farm was only two miles down the road, and Elizabeth graciously offered to drive us there.

A few murals in downtown Christchurch

The Southern Alps