Today we travelled north, on our final leg of the journey, from Dunedin to Christchurch but stopped en-route in Ashburton. It was quite a coincidence that one of my friends just happened to have left the rolling vales of Selby and moved into a town that, just five months later, we would roll through on our last full day in NZ. Although we didn't have long, it was nice to catch up over Chicken Tortilla. OK, so it's not a classic Yorkshire dish but it was nice nonetheless.
I think it's great that the world is shrinking to a size that enables such a transformational move to take place - it would've been, if not unthinkable ten years ago, then at least very difficult. But Yorkshire's loss is NZ's gain and they both look very happy in their new environment.
Sitting here, with the window open, staring at a clear blue sky whilst the mercury nudges 26 degrees even at 5pm, I can't help but think what we are returning to; reports of storms bashing the western coast of the UK whilst floods and power cuts brought misery to thousands over the festive period.
But then that is weather. And weather happens. Whilst it does cause a great deal of damage, and yes people do occasionally die as a result, I am reminded that I'm currently in a city that less than two years ago was subjected to a catastrophic earthquake that almost destroyed the town and killed hundreds. It's a sobering thought, so maybe a bit of unseasonally damp and windy weather is not so bad? At least the earth doesn't seem to want to swallow us up whole.
And there is no greater reminder of the earthquake that shook this city to its core than the clock tower on the corner of Salisbury and Monteal when on the 22 February 2011 at 12:51 the city stood still.
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