Ōtautahi / Christchurch Daily Photo

I went to Kaiapoi today to go on the MV Tuhoe boat trip (it goes down the Kaiapoi River). Before boarding the boat, I had a look around Kaiapoi. Kaiapoi is about 20 minutes north of Christchurch.

Kaiapoi was very adversely affected by the September 2010 earthquakes – with large suburban areas red-zoned and commercial properties in the town centre have been demolished.

Windows have been out out of the wall in front of this construction site. There are adult height windows and child size windows. The building being re-constructed is the Blackwells Department Store.

The picture above is land that has been cleared of homes in Kaiapoi – there were 23 homes on this bit of land. They’ve all been demolished due to earthquake damage. The land is now owned by CERA – a NZ government agency. There’s a Press article about the land here.

I really don’t think we could have picked a better day to go on the MV Tuhoe. It was sunny, very hot, and a refreshing breeze was blowing – just enough to cool you down.

The Tuhoe goes down the narrow Kaiapoi river which has these large willows on either side – you could reach out and touch them.

One of the many wonderful views from the Kaiapoi River.