New Zealand 20/20 trip: Day 2 Around Christchurch

By the numbers

2 bus’

22.61 kms

29,795 steps

I slept really well in the hostel as my room was a nice warm cell and I had no problems with noise either as I didn’t hear anything until I got up in the morning. I knew for several days that the weather might not be very nice at all and the forecast was correct, the weather wasn’t very great as it was raining throughout the day. The sky was overcast when I went out and I did plan to catch a glimpse of the train as I wanted to walk to the station.

I did just that after I had a quick breakfast and became a little lost as the footpath suddenly ended and I wondered if I had to go back. Turns out I needed to cross ther road as the path was only on one side and the rain was persistent. I found the station without too much trouble and found nothing there, which wasn’t too big of a deal, but I wanted the Airforce Museum and that was an hour or so walk. I wasn’t willing to get soaked to the skin just for a wander, so I went to the first bus stop and realised I needed two, so went up the road further to find a better stop. I was back to a think raincoat as I hadn’t replaced it since last year after the decent one went missing in London. The rain looked like it would be really coming down so I ended up on a bus and all was good. I arrived at the Wigram Airforce base a few minutes after they had opened, which was better than being an hours walk away.

I knew where I was heading to as I had made sure my phone had data on it and could follow the map, which drained my battery like you would never believe. The museum was not very far from the bus stop and along the way was the National Archives. I learnt that the land had been bought before World War One by a mayor of Christchurch by the name of Wigram. He was a visionary of sorts and the museum was built on one of the runways. The base was used during World War 2 and there were two guns that would be used if the Japanese invaded the fear was so great. I waited around for the 11am tour to begin as I wanted to see the special reserve area as that apparently had a Catalina flying boat. There were several Aussies on the tour and Americans as well, which was nt too bad at all. We were shown some of the aircraft including one that flew the Queen around New Zealand and there was even an Australian Canberra plane there, still had the kangaroo. There were several early planes like a Spitfire and an Avenger that goes of carriers. There was no flying boat though. It was out being painted. We did have a look at two art deco bunkers that were still standing after the earthquake as their walls were thick. We were shown around the display about POW’s and it was something like out of Hogan’s Heroes as there were escape attempts and the radio that played when you moved a book. After the tour I went around for a better look around and found a list of bases around New Zealand during WW2. That was helpful and even a book that I ended up with as it mentioned part of Fiji that an uncle served on.

Once I had lunch and a coffee, I thought it was time to move on, so I caught another bus back into the city, although I nearly by accident gave the driver a $50 as I couldn’t find my smaller notes. I did find one and I ended up at the hospital as it was the nearest place for me to get off and wander into the city before heading back to the hostel. For some reason, I ended up walking to the Christchurch Cathedral and was wondering if I would see the Wizard. ?I still have not seen him no matter how many times I have visited the city. He really is elusive. Its still surprising after all this time that there are still empty abandoned buildings in the city years after the quake. I headed back to the hostel and dropped off my book as I wanted to head out to Sydenham as there was a cemetery I wanted to see. I was looking for a certain grave. The walk took around half an hour and I found my map tracker wanted me to use a Lime scooter. I wasn’t paying for that and I was going in the right direction.

Thr Sydenham cemetery was first opened in the 1890s and I found not all the graves had survived the test of time as there were several that I could not find. One of a family member and another lot for a friend who I was happy to help out. I was guessing it could have been any of the number of graves without headstones, or the blank spaces, but you never know. I could have been looking in the wrong place and I was making sure I was. A few stones had fallen over and I wasn’t sure if that was due to the quake, or time. It was starting to get late and I wanted to get dinner before I stopped and parked myself in the hostel. There was no rain during the late afternoon, which I thought was lucky I was not too worried the graves couldn’t be found, but at least I looked and can add a cemetery i havnt been to in New Zealand that I now have done. I had to stop into a supermarket along the way and got myself a muesli bar pack just in case I needed food and wont go hungry. I wasn’t really impressed by the selection available. Another just in case was a  2 min noodle thing as I don’t know what things are like in Arthurs Pass. I found plenty of toilet paper. I did get myself lost and it does seem that near to where I am is a lot of homes for the Salvos as its an ex prison area for people who are down on their luck. No one even bothered me, but it is sad to see places that look like they have seen better times.

Tomorrow I catch the train to Arthurs Pass where I will spend a full day and a bit there, so will get to see plenty there especially the nature side of things. I cannot wait for the train and will be there on time and will make sure I am.