I am back in New Zealand, for my fifth visit. Like on the last two trips, I will only be travelling around the South Island, though a little further around this time. For that purpose, I even have rented a car for the whole trip – something I have never done before. This on the other hand means that I will not go tramping (as the New Zealanders call hiking) on as many and as long walks as I have done on my previous trips. Yet, I plan to do some nice things; so stay tuned for more.

As always, I flew into Christchurch. The city was damaged heavily during my last visit here – not by me but by the disastrous earthquake on February, 22, 2011. Large parts of the city were destroyed and 185 people lost their lives. It is a slow and painful progress for the people of Christchurch to tear down the ruins of many buildings, be it private homes, business buildings or iconic buildings of the city like some of the churches.

For some buildings, like the Christchurch Cathedral, the future is still uncertain. While not all buildings that are to be demolished have been torn down, the process of rebuilding has begun and life has returned to the central city wherever that is already possible. Two years have passed since the quake hit the city and a long way lies ahead for the city and its people who are working hard to rebuild Christchurch not in the way it was but in the way they would like their city to be.

More photos from this journey across New Zealand’s South Island are in my album New Zealand 2013.