Brief stops in Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch

Hello again, from Franz Josef, New Zealand! It’s raining today and I’m full of a cold, so it’s time to enjoy a bit of a rest and just STOP for a day or so. Which gives me time to catch up, and tell you a little about my brief stop in Kuala Lumpur and the start of my time in NZ.

​I spent a very indulgent couple of days with Regina Yau, a lovely friend from university who is currently living in her native Malaysia. I found the temperature in KL a bit of a shock to the system, as I had just left behind the Japanese winter – quite a transition from 7°C to 37°C! So as the heat wasn’t very conducive to physical activity, Regina and I had a great time wandering around air-conditioned places, like shopping malls :) And also a less air-conditioned one: the city’s fantastic bird park, where hundreds of different kinds of birds wander around freely. It’s funny to see species that would probably never have met in the wild all happily rubbing shoulders, but hey, it clearly works here!

On arrival in New Zealand, I didn’t hang around in Auckland long before flying to Christchurch, on the south island. I had never been there before, so had never seen the city as it used to be before the earthquake that hit the country in September 2010 (7.1 on the Richter Scale), and the more destructive aftershock six months later (Richter 6.3) that killed 185 people and caused widespread damage to the weakened infrastructure.

As it happens, my visit coincided with the five-year anniversary of that second terrible quake, a day that scarred Christchurch and its people forever: 22nd February 2011. A few people I spoke to felt that still, five years later, not much has been done to repair the damage and rebuild the city, and certainly there’s construction under way all over the place. I lost count of the number of cranes I saw, and guard rails, fences, “keep out” signs and flattened spaces where something beautiful used to stand... ​

The city tour still runs, though I imagine a lot of it must now describe things that aren’t there any more, or are near-unrecognisable compared to how they used to be. The cathedral is one building that has suffered severe damage, and apparently its fate has yet to be decided; will it be torn down, or restored to its former glory, or rebuilt differently? The jury’s still out... Here it is in its current condition, along with some colourful structures in Cathedral Square.

Christchurch is clearly home to some very talented artists, who bring distinctive colour and verve to the city’s grey walls between construction sites:

​The art gallery, which also took a battering in the quakes, is now making a positive, hope-filled assertion for the months and years ahead... a touch of colour against that dark grey wall:

And I couldn't resist the chance to capture this poetic tribute to one of the country's foremost rugby men, a towering giant whose presence and performance with the All Blacks will never be forgotten.

Before leaving Christchurch ​I visited the botanic gardens, where the “Peace Bell” is a monument to more harmonious times and also a memorial, five years on, to some of the 185 people killed in the earthquakes. This place is alive with the sound of the crickets in the trees – listen!

​So that’s all for now, and I’ll be back soon with some photos of some of New Zealand’s stunning mountain scenery :)