Day Trip to Christchurch
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2012
1
40
179
Trip End
Ongoing
The devastation from last year's earthquake is shocking. Apparently, Wellington is the New Zealand equivalent to San Francisco- retrofitted, and ready for the earthquake that will eventually hit its fault lines- but unfortunately, Christchurch was not as prepared.
Read two very heartwarming stories in today's Christchurch Press. A local movie theater that was demolished gave away 400 seats to couples that had their first dates at the movies- so cute! And an Italian storybook written after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake was translated into English for kids in Christchurch. It tells the story of a town that shakes, not because of an earthquake, but because of a bean-eating, farting dragon! The Italian publishers agreed to translate the book, "Shakeland and Big-Fart the Lombridragon," with the condition that the book be distributed for free to primary school children.
Visited the coolest museum (thought of you and your friend that works at the Antarctic, Madelyn!) - The International Antarctic Centre. Watched the Little Blue Penguins get their breakfast. They swim for 16 hours a day and serenade their mates- very helpful since they're mainly nocturnal. The penguins here are mostly injured and couldn't survive in the wild.
Survived an Antarctic storm... They have a room that's kept at -8 degrees Celsius and when the storm comes the wind blows 36 mph...brrrr! Saw a video about the giant plane that transports Antarctic scientists to the bases- NZ and the US are neighbors there. The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 (?) mandates that the continent will not have a military and will be peaceably shared for scientific research. Only about 150 live on NZ's Scott Base during the winter.
Wandered around the Botanical Gardens- still beautiful on this cold, rainy day. Loved the rose garden.
Saw the National Wildlife photography exhibit at the Canterbury Museum. Amazing pictures by many under 15 year-old photographers. The photo of the year is one of oil-slicked Louisiana pelicans. There was also an exhibit devoted to the 2011 earthquakes. Truly heartbreaking.
Read two very heartwarming stories in today's Christchurch Press. A local movie theater that was demolished gave away 400 seats to couples that had their first dates at the movies- so cute! And an Italian storybook written after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake was translated into English for kids in Christchurch. It tells the story of a town that shakes, not because of an earthquake, but because of a bean-eating, farting dragon! The Italian publishers agreed to translate the book, "Shakeland and Big-Fart the Lombridragon," with the condition that the book be distributed for free to primary school children.
Visited the coolest museum (thought of you and your friend that works at the Antarctic, Madelyn!) - The International Antarctic Centre. Watched the Little Blue Penguins get their breakfast. They swim for 16 hours a day and serenade their mates- very helpful since they're mainly nocturnal. The penguins here are mostly injured and couldn't survive in the wild.
Survived an Antarctic storm... They have a room that's kept at -8 degrees Celsius and when the storm comes the wind blows 36 mph...brrrr! Saw a video about the giant plane that transports Antarctic scientists to the bases- NZ and the US are neighbors there. The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 (?) mandates that the continent will not have a military and will be peaceably shared for scientific research. Only about 150 live on NZ's Scott Base during the winter.
Wandered around the Botanical Gardens- still beautiful on this cold, rainy day. Loved the rose garden.
Saw the National Wildlife photography exhibit at the Canterbury Museum. Amazing pictures by many under 15 year-old photographers. The photo of the year is one of oil-slicked Louisiana pelicans. There was also an exhibit devoted to the 2011 earthquakes. Truly heartbreaking.
