25 July - Snow Snow Snow!

The snow has fallen overnight and wreaked havoc across Christchurch!

 

We arrive in the breakfast room to a chaotic scene this morning. The hotel is now quite full of stranded Air Asia and Air NZ passengers, including a girls hockey team from Rotarua heading to Invercargill for a tournament and several earthquake evacuees from the red zone and beyond using the hotel as temporary accomodation. One solitary member of staff has made it in - a lovely lady - Dot. She is struggling in a temporary breakfast room with a 4 slice toaster and a very demanding roomful of people. Tables have not been cleared, crockery and cutlery need cleaning and restacking and the buffet is running low/empty. Nicole and a fellow guest Joan rally round and, in true "crisis" spirit, clear tables, load the dishwasher, make toast and generally help Dot manage breakfast! Once the toast has settled and more snow has fallen we try and make a plan for the day - however there are no buses running and the police have advised that only 4x4s and essential trips should be made on the roads. We are stranded. In order to avoid cabin fever ( and world war 3 breaking out) Nicole takes 2 separate trips to the nearby Northlands Mall to "see what we can see!" trudging along in the snow. 

  

We see lots of evidence of the recent earthquakes with buildings along the way with notices on granting access and declaring them safe to be in or in various states of demlition, collapse or sealed with tape or metal fencing - complete with notices taped to the doors forbidding entry.

By the time the second trip is made at 12pm many of the shops are shut - we are wet and cold and still no nearer to making any kind of plan for the coming days. With a bit of persuasion in the late afternoon David then joins the girls for a trip to find a shop selling a road map and to catch the 24 hour supermarket to buy a picnic supper as no local cafes/restaurants are open. He turns back after stepping down a slushy kerb - the grown ups do not have th benefit of shiny new welllies! The girls battle on - only to find the 24 hour supermarket about to close and beg to but atleast a loaf of bread! The security man takes pity on us and allows us a quick scoot round and "supper" is purchased - before the cold and snowy trek back to join other guests in the makeshift "common" room. David has now booked a hire car - "el cheapo" can be collected in the  morning, complete with snow chains - and we can atleast head out and start our NZ road trip. Hiring a car appears to be the most economic way of getting around and atleast we will be masters of our own destiny. A fruitless internet search for a place to stay tomorrow night begins and in the end we decide to try and find somewhere once we get there - a risky plan - but we have no other option.