At Christchurch Airport I hired a car and registered to join the convoy to Kaikoura two days hence, then drove north on a more-or-less empty main road to Cheviot, stopping for a bite to eat at one of the cafes which had reported a serious loss of customers.
"All our passing traffic and our tourists -- which I'd say was about 80 per cent of our custom -- stopped overnight," Debbie Anderson of Cheviot's Two Rivers Cafe said.
I'd arrived moments before a bunch of about 40 older bikers, who had ridden up from Christchurch to support the town's businesses.
Further north, at Parnassus, a detour bypasses a cracked overbridge, and then the road was cordoned off where State Highway 1 crosses the Leader River.
Two brothers driving south stopped to talk about the devastation they had seen, including massive boulders that had stopped just short of their 78-year-old father's house at Oaro.
The next day the cordon had disappeared so I was able to drive a lot further north. Along this 50km stretch, the damage to the road is more evident -- it is one way in parts, where the other lane is mangled, and there are thousands of patches, sealed and unsealed, and hundreds of cones warn drivers of edge collapse.
To reach Waiau, near the epicentre of the so-called Kaikoura earthquake, one can drive direct via the West Leader Rd.
Unfortunately, communications -- both internet and cellphone -- were poor in Waiau, North Canterbury's oldest town. Each morning NZTA advised registered drivers by text whether they could join the convoy. My idea of taking essential supplies through to Kaikoura was foiled.
Waiau is a distressing sight, with 26 red-stickered buildings -- including the historic Waiau Hotel and Amuri Church -- and dozens more with problems.
Headstones in the old cemetery were toppled, tarpaulins and sheets of plywood have temporarily patched many dwellings. A third of the town's population of 300 has relocated to Rotherham and Culverden to the south.
A shower truck has been installed at the camping ground for use by residents who have lost their water supply and sewerage system. The tight-knit community is getting on with life but it's not easy. The school swimming pool is wrecked and an appeal is under way -- they have raised more than $100,000 already.
Before I left Waiau, I weeded a garden for an elderly woman I had met at the Waiau dairy.
My travels in the quake region ended with a sober drive back to Christchurch through the Hurunui district, past intact cob cottages and cordoned-off historic churches and hotels.
I only felt one aftershock during my 11 days away -- 5.5 magnitude based near Seddon on December 4 -- and it was so gentle I had to check with other people. Aftershocks are expected for years, as they did in Christchurch after September 2010. However, the danger of being harmed in aquake is still less than being killed on New Zealand roads.
