HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-06-17, Page 9Wednesday, June 17, 2015 • Lucknow Sentinel 9
The New Zealand Experience - Part 3
Travel Series
Maureen Matchett
The flight from Auckland
to Christchurch only took
1.5 hours, but was cer-
tainly bare bones in terms
of so-called services.
Prices for flights around
New Zealand might seem
super -cheap, but checked
luggage costs extra, and
don't dare go over weight
limits! The International
Cricket World Cup was
happening in Australia and
New Zealand during our
visit, and we learned the
hard way to pay attention
to the schedule because a
cricket match was held in
Christchurch the same day
we flew in, making it
extremely difficult
to find affordable
accommodations!
Christchurch is a really
active, vibrant city of about
300 000 people, and its con-
sistent growth and expan-
sion only slowed down in
2011 because of the earth-
quakes. It was settled in the
mid -1800s and settlers tried
to mimic upper class Eng-
lish society, and not be yet
another scruffy colonial
outpost; fertile farmland
was purposely given to the
gentry and there were far
more churches built than
pubs. In fact, no matter
where we went in Christch-
urch, there were reminders
of Christchurch's connec-
tion to the home country,
with the Jubilee clock
statue, Victoria Park, and
the coronation monument
being just a few.
However, the quakes of
2010/2011 are now the
defining feature of CC,
since there are significant
areas that are still unin-
habitable, from the down-
town with its half torn -
down buildings, to its
outer communities. For
instance, the seaside vil-
lage of Sumner has a ghost
town quality to it, with
many hillside homes
abandoned because of
quake damage, and others
only accessible by foot
because roads are still
impassible.
There were actually two
major earthquakes. The
first was September 4,
2010, about 4 am, at 7.1
magnitude, taking place 40
km outside of the city.
Though there was plenty of
damage to roads and rail-
ways, there were no fatali-
ties since most people
were still in bed. Just
before 1 pm on February,
22, 2011, an earthquake of
6.3 magnitude struck, with
the epicentre only 10 km
southeast of the city. This
time, 185 people died,
many of whom because of
the collapse of the Canter-
bury TV building. Four
years later, CC is still a city
under construction, and a
lot of steel and concrete
are being used to create a
new city that can with-
stand another quake. The
locals are still trying to get
used to the altered city-
scape and skyline. Full
rebuilding is estimated to
take 20 years and about
$40 billion.
During our time in
Christchurch, we visited
Quake City, a small
museum about the earth-
quakes, but we also did
some of the typical tourist
activities. We punted on
the Avon River (which
means we were in a flat-
bottomed boat guided
along by a Punter, some-
thing like Venice), which
was especially nice since
the sun was bright and the
day was warm. We had a
guided tour of the Botanic
Gardens, which cover 30
hectares along the river-
side. It's gorgeous at any
time of the year because
something is always
blooming. It was estab-
lished about 150 years ago
and features plants and
trees from all over the
world. We rode the cable
car up Mount Albert (900+
m), and toured some of the
Christchurch downtown
on the tram. We finished
our busy day with a visit to
the Canterbury Museum,
which had a lot of interest-
ing exhibits, including Ant-
arctic explorers, earth-
quake and geological
exhibits, dinosaurs, a
mummy (for real), a frag-
ment of a meteorite that
blew up Arizona (also for
real), and so much more.
We met Dave and Joan
Black and they gave us a
wicked grand tour of the
city, driving up steep, nar-
row, winding roads that
we never would have had
the guts to drive
ourselves.
Next article: Into the
mountains
Submitted
Large and small buildings collapsed during the earthquake, including parts of Christchurch
Cathedral, which was the historic hub of the downtown. The decision has yet to be made regarding
whether it should be completely torn down or rebuilt.
Shipping containers have proved their worth in Christchurch. They're filled with gravel and placed
alongside hills to prevent rockfalls and silt from impeding traffic. Downtown businesses shut down
by the quake have been relocated to shipping containers, creating the ReStart shopping mall in the
previous mall's parking lot. Some think this new shopping concept should be permanent.
Lucknow 4-H Sheep Club
Emily Bieman
The second meeting of the
Lucknow Sheep Club was
held at the Ripley vet clinic
on June 4 at 6:30 pm.
The members split into
two groups to tour the vet
clinic. Group one toured the
vet clinic and talked with a
vet about the types of worms
a lamb can get, how they get
them, how to treat worms
and the symptoms of worms.
The members got to see the
worms different types of
animals get such as dogs,
cats and horses. Meanwhile,
Group two talked with the
leaders about where they
were keeping their lambs,
what they were being fed,
the breed and when farm
visits could take place.
The members then head
over to the Ripley Park where
they played a game of cap-
ture the flag and enjoyed free
time on the playground.
President, Jessalyn Hen-
dricks led the 4-H pledge
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and members enjoyed a
snack of fruit.
The Lucknow Sheep Club
would like to thank
the Ripley vet clinic staff for
taking time out of their busy
schedules to show them
through the vet clinic.
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