I’ve been resting in Christchurch and figuring out my plan. Final decision is to skip about 145km and rejoin the trail after the two large braided rivers (Raikaia and Rangitata) that it’s recommended to shuttle around each. I also bought some new trail runners with a higher heel to toe drop than my current ones as this may be helpful for my Achilles. I’m trying to see a bit of Christchurch and went to the Canterbury museum to see a street art exhibit (all the regular exhibits have been removed as the building is scheduled to close in April for a renovation, which I would say is sorely needed as the building looked tired). I also met up with Caroline, who is also here resting and recovering from shin splints, for lunch at the Riverside Market, a building with many little kiosk type restaurants, and for a walking tour of the city. The tour made me realise how much of the city is new as 80% of the buildings in the centre were damaged beyond repair in the 2010-2011 earthquakes. There’s still a lot of construction going on. I also got to experience a mild earthquake my first night in Christchurch and apparently there was another one two nights later. The walking tour piqued my interest so I ended up visiting Quake City, the museum dedicated to the earthquakes. These disasters have obviously had a huge impact on Christchurch, but it made me reflect on how much more devastating the recent events in Turkey have been with over 50 000 lives lost compared there to 185 here.

I moved on from Christchurch to a trail angel who lives a bit further south near a town called Timaru. He has a small property in the countryside outside of the town with a few goats, sheep, cows and chickens. It’s a nice relaxing spot to be and he’ll take me back to the trailhead south of the Rangitata river on Saturday morning.