Travels and Birds: Christchurch

A New Park in the Making

Devastated by two major earthquakes barely six months apart in 2010 and 2011, Christchurch is a shining example of the resilience of humans in the face of adversity. Seeing how they have reacted and recovered from these earthquakes offers some hope to those of us in the Northwest who are facing the day in our future when we will be hit by an earthquake of this magnitude or maybe even as large as the one that destroyed Fukushima,Japan, in 2011. Our turn will come. We just hope it waits until we are gone and our cities have had more time to prepare by strengthening buildings and bridges.

One still to be demolished

Old City Council Building
I think there have now been three replacements.

Sheep Blocking the Road

Evidence of the earthquake damage is still everywhere as many streets are still to be repaired, buildings to be demolished, parking lots fill in for demolished buildings, and new construction fills the skyline. When I turned in our rental car, the attendant joked that it’s too bad I’m not a skier as I’d had some good practice slaloming amongst the cones on the roads where they are being repaired. Meanwhile, we are told that today’s Christchurch is among the safest cities in an earthquake zone because all the new construction is up to the highest standards for earthquake preparedness.

Container Protection for Cars and Pedestrians

Protective Containers

Container Mall

We saw some innovative uses for shipping containers. Some are stacked against buildings waiting for demolition to protect passers-by from falling debris. The Container Village (officially Re: START Village) that went up weeks after the earthquake to house shops and restaurants is still in use although much diminished as nearby shopping streets are making it obsolete. I suppose it may remain as a small tourist attraction, but today it is only home to a few tourist shops and food stalls where locals come for lunch or a light dinner.

Container Mall

The Anglican Cathedral was deconsecrated last year, but for the time being is still replaced the the Transitional Cathedral while they are still deciding what to do for a permanent replacement. Popularly known as the Cardboard Cathedral, it is an A-frame building held up by cardboard tubes large enough for small humans to climb through. Our schedule did not allow time to visit inside during the day, but we could look in from the outside at the lovely, naturally-lit interior. Another old stone church waits for the rebuilder and insurance company to figure out how to pay for the removal and storage of the stones. They want to rebuilding using the old stones, but haven’t been able to work out the details.

Cardboard Cathedral

Inside the Cardboard Cathedral

Holding up the Old Church

Evidence of new development included the fact that several of the shops we passed were only opened a couple of weeks before our arrival. One of the restaurants we ate in had not been open too long. The other, in New Regent Street, may not have even closed. New Regent Street was built in the 1930s in an old Spanish style. The two story buildings along the street are painted in pastels each side of the street mirroring the opposite side.

New Regent Street
The other side is a mirror image including colors

As tourists, we did three tourist activities. The 50-minute tram ride is Christchurch’s HopOn/HopOff through the central city. Live commentary accompanies the trip. We like the live commentaries better because you never know what tidbits of information might come up in the interactions between passengers and the driver/narrator.

One of the trams and the Art Center (formerly college)

Inside a Tram

One of the stops is at a shuttle to the gondola ride up Mt. Cavendish on Banks Peninsula. We left the tram only to discover that the shuttle driver had disappeared at the gondola stop. No one could find him but if we would wait an hour, another tour driver would use his break to shuttle us to the gondola. We took advantage of the time to visit Neutron Coffee Shop for breakfast. It’s logo says it has better chemistry for coffee. Housed in the college now refurbished as an art center, we enjoyed a nice al fresco breakfast as we waited for our ride. This beautiful set of stone buildings somehow survived the earthquakes without significant damage although repairs are still ongoing. In addition to the coffee shop, we found a chocolate shop and an art gallery and a museum dedicated to Ernest Rutherford who won the Nobel Prize for Physics for his pioneering work in nuclear physics.

Art Center - Formerly University

The gondola ride was worth the wait as we could see the entire area including downtown Christchurch and its port city of Lytton on the other side of the Banks Peninsula. Christchurch is the third largest city in New Zealand as as its most southern port, it has long been the port used by Antarctic expeditions, particularly Robert Peary and Ernest Shackleton who both spent time here. Today,several nations with Antarctic missions have offices and warehouses here. The gondola offers a restaurant, gift shop, and a Disney type ride through a ‘time-tunnel’ history of the area. Locals regularly use it to get to the many hiking trails and picnic areas at the top.

View from Mt. Cavendish

Another Mt. Cavendish View

After completing the tram ride, we spent the rest of the afternoon with a quick look at the Botanic Garden and a visit to the museum. We entered the museum just as a tour began, great timing on our part as our guide offered us a 45-minute overview of the museum leaving us enough time to revisit part before closing. We chose to spend that time in the Antarctica exhibit where we watched some video on early explorations of the ice continent and looked at the exhibits. In addition to exhibits on Peary and Shackleton, a most interesting part had a replica of a boat made from branches of a tree covered in sail cloth. Shipwrecked sailors who knew they were too far off the regular sailing routes built this small boat so they could propel themselves a couple hundred miles to another island where they might be saved. They were successful.

Antarctic Travel

This boat sailed the Southern Ocean and the sailors survived.

The World's Fastest Motorcycle

The most beautiful part of Christchurch is the River Avon, named for a river in Scotland, not the one of Shakespeare and Stratford fame. This shallow, slow-moving stream meanders through downtown providing lovely picnic sites and the opportunity to be punted along the river relaxing in the sun.

Punting on the River Avon

Seating area on the Avon River

River Avon and the Botanical Garden

One of the river sites is the Memorial Bridge and Arch, Christchurch’s war memorial. Near the bridge is a memorial to the over 00 New Zealand soldiers killed at Passchendaele during World War I, the worst day for New Zealand soldiers in any war. The 800+ crosses all have names of those who died there creating an emotional exhibit.

War Memorial Bridge

Passchendaele Crosses

This is a city we where we could settle were we to move to New Zealand. The combination of outdoor activities and cultural opportunities would easily keep us entertained. But we aren’t looking for a new home and left Christchurch for a week in Fiji where we will be wearing shorts and enjoying warm weather before we head to Hawaii for another ten days. Then it will be home for real and winter weather.