Mousehole, Ouruhia & Christchurch North

Sunday 2nd December
Yesterday we headed in the direction of Kaiapoi as planned but we were only a km or two down the road when one of our 4 belts on the bus broke - luckily it was the house battery alternator belt which we can do without when driving but it means our house battery doesn't get charged up (except by the solar panel). Unluckily, it is the same belt we had replaced in Otorohanga about 2,000 kms ago so we think that there must be some misalignment of the pulleys for this to have happened again. We hope to find a good mechanic somewhere tomorrow (Monday) to get it sorted. in the meantime we need lots of sun, which we have, (in the 20s this morning already) or electrical connection to watch TV/ use lights etc.
We did carry on to Kaiapoi and arranged to stay in the Kaiapoi Club carpark but not long after parking and having a walk around the area we didn't feel that comfortable. They had just had a carnival through the town and there were already a few groups of drunken youths about. Also the earthquake damage was rather unsettling - Kaiapoi was badly hit and there was a huge, wide crack in the carpark we were on. They had filled it in with stones and gravel but it was still very obvious and the Club itself, which looked quite new needs extensive repairs in part of it. The people we have talked to down here have been, and still are, severely traumatised and no-one would want to be in their shoes. So many people still waiting, 2 years down the track, for their homes to be repaired. A couple we met at Amberley Camping Ground have $600,000 worth of repairs to do and will be living in their caravan for 6 months while this is done but at this point the insurance company is still being difficult.

What a whopper!

We decided against staying in Kaiapoi after all and moved on to a POP called Mousehole - a 3 hectare chestnut orchard at Ouruhia a few kms closer to central Christchurch. It's a very tranquil spot and is nice to be parked amongst the trees. There are another 7-8 caravans/motorhomes here, some of them belonging to people from Christchurch whose houses are too damaged to live in. There is a famiy of 5 in one of the hugest "buses" we have seen.
The youngest girl in the family (?about 8) told me they were having it built when the big earthquake struck and so have been living in it for 2 years. They have just spent 6 months in Tauranga and plan to stay at the orchard for a couple of months - they are home- schooled.
We are parked out at the beach area of Spencer Park where the air is a little cooler, and have just had a good walk beside the sea which is quite busy with surfers and the Surf Lifesaving juniors practising. It's going to be togs-on now and back to the beach - it is such a scorching day but so far have only dabbled my toes in the water. It still feels pretty cold but you never know! After the beach we will probably head back to our "mousehole" and watch the delayed rugby, All Blacks vs England, which we don't know the result of yet but I guess one of us will be happy and the other sad!

30° high for Christchurch today

STOP PRESS: Len happy, Trish less so!