garyandpearl

Day 18 Monday February 3rd

Our day began by getting our rental car which we have named Penelope. She is a previously loved vehicle which has over 230,000 km and shows signs of body work. She does not have as much spunk as our sporty Camry, but she will do.

We headed to downtown Christchurch. This city has been hit with two major earthquakes in the past few years. Many of the beautiful English style heritage buildings have been demolished because they are deemed unsafe or because it would cost too much to make them liveable. It was quite a challenge getting downtown because of all of the road and bridge closures due to reconstruction. It was rather eerie walking downtown with very few people around and looking into huge high-rises that were boarded shut. The destruction of the famous Christchurch cathedral was a major loss.

We found some beauty in the rubble: the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

It was gorgeous and so tranquil.

We enjoyed a delicious apple strudel with coffee while we were downtown:

From Christchurch we headed south to Geraldine where we visited Petra. She is our pastor and wife’s daughter and is attending the Capernwray school on the South Island known as The Crossing. Petra gave us a tour of the beautiful 100 year old house and its grounds.

After our visit and a quick stop in Geraldine, we headed to Timaru, a beautiful city on the coast. We headed down to the water again and enjoyed a tasty supper of chicken in a cherry sauce, garlic shrimp, and couscous. We had a long walk before supper, and we noticed that there was barely a soul in the downtown core. For the second time today, it felt eerie!! Where was everybody??

Proverbs 18:10

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”