March 11, 2012
Well said goodbye to New Zealand, what an amazing country! Got to stay at a cattle farm home in Fairlie, met the family. Great people, had a chance to see their animals including a ostrich, 2600 pound bull and Wataki Deer. The Wataki is a deer the size of a horse, beautiful calm animal. Chris and Derreck my hosts put on an amazing dinner and conversation.
Then a bus ride to Christ Church to fly across the "ditch" to Melbourne, Australia. The devastation from the earthquakes in downtown Christchurch was all very apparent. They had 5 earth quakes since September of 2010, the first one being a 7.0. Much of the downtown is still closed off for repairs. Many multiple story buildings have to be torn down. Lots of construction work for years to come. To give the town people a pick-me-up, they created a mall made out of container cargo holders..painted up and turned into shops. It was an incredible idea, worked well
Well am now in Melbourne. Beautiful city, much to see here, I'll get pictures out separately tomorrow I hope. Internet service has been sometimes hard to find now because everybody has it in their hands on their phones!!
See you in a day or two
-Bill
Sent from my iPhone
