Feb 24-March 1 South Island
Christchurch Today we flew to the South Island and Christchurch. In the early 1800s the working man’s live in England was not an enviable one. There were no unions, child labor was common, there were poor health services, pollution was appalling and crime rampant. Unlike Australia where prisoners were transported, New Zealand was seen as a paradise for workers. A utopian society was planned by the Church of England and recruitment efforts led to first settlers coming to Christchurch (name obvious reference) in 1850. Like America it was advertised has having streets of gold; what they found were streets of mudflats and tents. In the past decade this town has been defined by an earthquake. On the early morning of September 4, 2010 a 7.1 magnitude earthquake centered around the farmlands outside of the city caused considerable damage to the city but no loss of lives. In a sense the population thought they had been spared. ...