Days 21 and 22 Deer Cheese...Really? Christchurch looks like Sarajevo, Bosnia

Day 21 took us from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch.  It was a glorious, windless, cloudless morning to wake up to.  Quite a contrast from the hurricane yesterday.  Tom and I even had breakfast on our bungalow's front porch.  We then hit the road and our first stop was in Geraldine for the girls to sample Barker's jam at the source.  Very popular with a good reputation; we have picked it up at our frequent market stops for the last three weeks.

As Tom and I wandered the small town we also were informed of a new product emerging out of  New Zealand.  Deer Cheese!  Whaaaaat?  Let me explain.  First, when driving on the North Island we saw a few fenced deer on the side of the highway, then we saw huge numbers of fenced deer, then we realized that New Zealanders have domesticated the European Red Deer for meat.

They segregate the sexes, so one large fenced area will be full of bucks all antlered up, most fields are full of females.  Venison is on all the menus in the country, you remember the Bambi Burger, etc.  But, what is emerging is that they are now milking the females for cheese!?  Deer are not real milk producers like cows so the milk is dried then reconstituted into cheese.  And it is expensive.  I haven't had the opportunity to try any yet.  Not sure I want to....... Many questions are running through my mind.  How would you milk a deer and why would she let you; are at the top of my question list.  If curious, check out The Deer Milker.

We finished the day with a nice walk around Christchurch.  We were warned and we saw that a fair portion of downtown is still not rebuilt from the 7.2 earthquake in 2011.  Similar to Sarajevo, (and much of Bosnia, we saw two years ago), except the abandoned and broken buildings had no bullet holes in them.  Hardest hit were the ancient cathedrals in town.

Many old facades have been reinforced so they don't peel off from the buildings

This is the simple but impactful memorial to the 185 that lost their lives in the earthquake.
A white chair for each of the victims. From infant seats to wheelchairs.

But, that brings us to Day 22 and the "Cardboard Cathedral"!  Within two years after the earthquake, a transition church was up and running for the parishioners.  Why so fast?  It is literally made of cardboard, (and concrete, plywood and steel).  It seats 700 and is good to go until the stone cathedral is rebuilt or 50 years.  Whichever comes first..

Pulpit looks like Amazon mailer tubes......

You would think they could have gone with at least plywood for the cross,
nope, plywood tubes.......

Later in the day, we went to Kaitorete Spit at Birdlings Flat.  Another huge beach, but instead of sand, small polished stones.  All sizes from millimeters to around 5 inches.  During the stroll, we noticed a Toyota 4-runner stuck on the beach.  Not good since he ignored the signs not to go down there and it was just he and his girlfriend trying to dig the thing out which would be impossible.

A great beach for shelling and collecting interesting rocks, but NOT for driving.

So, the four of us jump into action digging rocks and driftwood to help him get un-stuck and back to the parking lot about 500 meters away.  After an hour or so we were successful, lots of hard work but two very grateful young locals.