So I just got back from New Zealand!
For those of y'all keeping up with the news and knew I was arriving to New Zealand on the day the earthquakes happened, I missed the second major earthquake in Christchurch by mere minutes on June 13th, as my plane was still in the air. I was rerouted to Auckland and flown back to Christchurch a couple of hours later. I did experience a very short and small earthquake at 3am on the 14th. I left Christchurch later that day. Sadly, earthquakes kept happening throughout the week in Christchurch while I was traveling around the rest of the South Island. Our bus tour ended on the 20th and my flight out of Christchurch was on the 22nd, but I continued on to the next city on the bus stop after Christchurch to spend more time with my friends. Good thing I did because last night there was another earthquake with multiple aftershocks throughout the night. I feel very lucky to have missed the bigger earthquakes this month while I was traveling and my heart goes out to everyone in Christchurch. On the way to the airport in the morning, I saw a lot of the damage. It was haunting and truly sad. I hope that Christchurch will get a break soon from these earthquakes so they can start to rebuild without constant worry of what they repair being destroyed again.
I really did enjoy my time in New Zealand and it made me think a lot about life. I will post pictures soon!
-Karen
