Last week I was on a road trip through the Canterbury and Wanaka regions of New Zealand’s South Island as a guest of Tourism NZ and Air NZ, along with other journalists from Fairfax, Yahoo7! and News Ltd. The aim of the trip was to report on progress for plans to rebuild and repair Christchurch after the late 2010/2011 earthquakes as well as writing about tourist attractions in the surrounding region.
As the Mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker said during his interview (watch below): “the part of Christchurch which is damaged is 0.1% of the South Island’s land area”.
Tourists can still land at the totally safe undamaged Christchurch airport and head from there to the nearby mountains, lakes, forests or the coastal town of Akaroa, without even knowing there had been any Earthquakes in Christchurch recently.
Unfortunately the number of Tourists to NZ’s South Island has fallen after the late 2010/2011 earthquakes, especially around Christchurch in the Canterbury region. This has led to many job losses and unless the number of incoming tourists increases a lot many more Kiwis will lose their jobs as Tourism, Accommodation and other related businesses go broke.
Photo & Video Highlights
Siberia Experience – Helicopter Flight, Bush Walk, Jetboat Ride – Wanaka New Zealand
Tiger Moth Aerobatic Joyflight – Classic Flights Wanaka
Air Safaris Grand Traverse scenic flight – Lake Tekapo, Glaciers and Mount Cook
Giants House – Akaroa, New Zealand – quirky art, terraced garden with sculptures and mosaics
Overall Trip Highlights Video
Below is a photo highlights slideshow of the road trip: Christchurch, Akaroa, Lake Tekapo, the Southern Alps, west coast Glaciers, Wanaka, Siberia Valley, Arrowtown and Christchurch.
DISCLAIMER: Almost all expenses for this trip were covered by Tourism New Zealand, regional NZ tourism bodies and Air New Zealand. I choose what topics I want to write about on this trip and what I say about them, Tourism NZ has no editorial control.
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Very cool! The helicopter shot is a ripper.
wow beautifully post