Right now I'm happy that we are behind on the blog. If this were written in week 13 itself, it would be a political US-election rant followed by an emotional testimony of the New Zealand earthquake. At least now it will be an emotional US-election rant followed by a political testimony of the earthquake. Wait what?

Before heading to Christchurch, our final destination in New Zealand, we gave the marine mammals watching experience another go in Kaikoura. This is a picturesque little town nestled between snow-capped mountains and the ocean. There's whales and dolphins here year-round because an underwater canyon comes up close to the land, bringing with it nutrient-rich waters. Our whale watching tour prior to heading to Nelson was cancelled due to choppy seas. When reading reviews for these kinds of tours, the negative reviews deal with one thing only: seasickness. Bobbing around on the open sea while watching the marine life put on a show is tough. Especially whale watching, as you stay put as long as the whale does, which is typically longer than some playful dolphins. You have to chase those around, so you keep moving which is supposedly better. As a result, the cancellation created a weird mix of emotions: we were dissappointed and relieved at the same time. 0% chance to see a whale like this, but also a 100% chance to not get seasick.

For our second attempt, we booked the dolphin tour, and Poseidon had again been drinking too much the night before. Serious swell out on the sea, and we were warned a gazillion times (we lost count) that there was a very high chance to get seasick. Luckily the dolphins were easy to find, and we could get in the water with them to play! The group we found was in full mating mode, so they were extra playful with their mating jumps and underwater courtship. They were also immensely curious. We were instructed to be as funny and dolphin-like as possible. Dive down, swim in circles and above all, make a lot of funny noises. It must have been a spectacle for those still on the boat. And the dolphins were definitely intrigued! They swooped past, circled around us and had a closer look. I wasn't sure who was watching who more. It genuinely looked like they were just having fun. Getting back on the boat after swimming, a wave of seasickness spread amongst the swimmers. We managed to dodge the bullet, but for those that didn't, there were plenty of colorful buckets. What a nice touch.

Last stop in New Zealand: Christchurch. Christchurch doesn't look like a city. There are vast open sections, where whole city blocks have disappeared. The rubble is gone 5 years after the devastating February 2011 earthquake, but rebuilding is only just starting and will take a couple more decades. This leaves a city without an identity. "Protect your investment. Paint your property regularly" says one advert on the side of a building. I doubt paint would have helped. On the other side of the street (technically one block further, but the block in between doesn't exist anymore sooo...) a massive, beautiful mural of an elephant family. The clearing of buildings has created a lot of open wall space, that has been eagerly used by graffiti artists. A lot of temporary open ground space as well, which is being used by a variety of creative projects in search for a new identity for the city, a new life for its residents. Pop-up markets, an open air dancefloor where you can blast your own music into the speakers, anything goes. They have a long standing agricultural tradition that was not affected though, and we went to the 154th annual Canterbury agricultural show (not bad for a city that only saw the first Europeans arrive in 1840). Lumberjack competitions, shepherd dog show offs, a big farming machinery expo, you name it. Out of all the animals present at the show, the jury decided that a white gigantic cow and its calf were the best 'animals in show'. I don't know about that, I had my money on the superb rooster (talk about comparing apples with pears). It all ended with a massive parade of livestock that had won a ribbon in whatever category, ranging from milk goats to pack llamas. Some cows broke loose of their human and started running across the field. The horses got spooked and started staggering, their fancy jockeys still in the saddle. It was mayhem. We loved it.

In lieu of landmarks to visit, we spent our time in coffee bars, cocktail bars or the beautiful Botanical Gardens. Said goodbye to Teun the Mazda Demio, 40 days and 5140 km after we first met. Communication was hard (Teun only knew Japanese and we weren't able to learn him English), but we had an amazing time altogether. We caught up on some reading and writing, and watched as Trump reined in state after state. 2016 has been definitely been a wacky political year. So much anti-establishment voting, while overall, life has never been better on earth. Maybe we are at a turning point, and have reached the limit of where the current establishment can take us. Maybe not. In any case, it's dividing populations where I would much rather see humanity unite to become one space-faring nation (HA! Bet that took a turn you didn't expect).

Walking through town back to the hostel on our final evening, we wondered out loud what kind of destructive force could wipe away half a city. Little did we know we would experience it ourselves a couple of hours later. Just after midnight, the hostel suddenly started to sway back and forth. Not just a centimeter or two, but more on the order of half a meter. We didn't panic, probably because it was too surreal. Ask yourselves now: what would you do in case of an earthquake? And is that an appropriate response? Our thought was to go outside and find a large clearing. Makes sense, right? However, during an earthquake, you apparently have to (1) grip yourself and (2) duck underneath a table or stand in a doorframe. Because if you're out on the street, buildings and rubble may fall on you. But if you're inside one of those buildings, hiding under a table isn't going to do you any good now is it. I guess it all depends on the size of the earthquake (things falling over inside versus buildings falling over), but there is no way to know just how strong an earthquake will turn out.

I think unnerving is an approriate word to sum up the experience. An earthquake messes with your confidence, has no regard for what is normally rigid and immovable. We spent an hour outside while the building was being checked for structural damage. We saw how the news spread around the world, and how the NZ geological service adjusted the magnitude from 6.6 to 7.5. It would later be adjusted one last time to 7.8, thereby matching the largest earthquake NZ has experienced in the past 100 years. It was impossible to stop tracking the news, as updates from across the country seeped in. Someone's photo on Twitter of people standing outside the hostel made it to the HLN.be article. We're somewhere in that picture. It was also impossible to sleep. Every aftershock brought a sense of unrest. After a couple of hours, though, we started to get used to them. And they weren't so scary anymore.

After a short night's sleep with plenty of sizable aftershocks, the ground still wasn't finished shaking. Shocks continued throughout the day, the most notable being a 6.6 aftershock in the afternoon. Some people looked up from their book, beverage or conversation, but life goes on as normal, the only evidence of what just happened in the form of swaying lamps. The earthquake left New Zealand in shambles. Roads were torn apart or blocked by massive landslides. Kaikoura, where we had seen dolphins at the beginning of this week, completely ruined. The website for the whale watching company still shows the status of the last cruise before the earthquake on the 13th of November: Cancelled due to bad weather.

We have to honestly admit, it made saying goodbye to New Zealand a little bit easier. The runways for Christchurch airport were still intact, so we got on our plane to Melbourne, Australia for the final country in our trip, for the last 7 weeks of what is already a once in a lifetime, unforgettable experience.

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