New Zealand, Part 7 (Christchurch)

My final day in New Zealand started at the Willowbank Reserve, a small zoo in town that offers one of the best chances to see a Kiwi bird on the island. Kiwis are nocturnal and quite endangered, so it's a little hard to see them. The Willowbank has a dark enclosure where you can enter and look around for their 4 Kiwis that are on display.

It was dark inside, but I was able to see 3 of the four birds. They were very weird. Much bigger than I expected, and their beaks were extremely long. They are larger than a big chicken, and their movement is much smoother than that of a chicken.

As the enclosure was so dark, I wasn't able to get any pictures.

Even so, here are some other fun animals:

Native Eels... ugly

Silky Chickens... Yeah, they're ugly

This peacock chased the female around shaking his feathers

Elvis Hair

Hi!

That was enough to keep me busy for a few hours. I then traveled downtown to see some of the earthquake damage.

Even two years afterward, the people are still trying to deal with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. After the earthquake almost 10,000 people moved away due to the damage. The cathedral in the center of town is the most obvious symbol of the destruction.

The local congregation has moved to a temporary chapel called the "Cardboard Cathedral" made out of corrugated plastic and cardboard.

It's quite impressive that they are still maintaining it. I would think that it won't endure too long, but it is apparently quite popular.

At the end of the day, Jim took me to the hill above Christchurch to see the view.

Anyways, a few final thoughts on New Zealand:

1) It was beautiful, but in many ways similar to the central mountains of Idaho.
2) It was expensive. The country imports everything, so the cost of living is quite high. Filling up my rental car cost almost $100 (which would be about $80 US). Most meals were about $15 at the cheapest.
3) I was extremely grateful to Jim and Naimah who hosted me for a few days. They were very kind.
4) I'm glad I went. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me, and I think it was great.
5) My favorite parts were the Lord of the Rings locations.

All in all, I'd recommend the trip, but I'd also recommend budgeting to spend a little more than planned. Just FYI.