Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch late in the evening and were lucky enough to get a powered campsite at the holiday park.  It was by far the most crowded park we had been to, and getting into our spot was a little difficult.  We were supposed to park between a tree, a rock, and a light post.  With some maneuvering we managed pretty well.  We decided we would try cooking in the communal kitchen that night, we hadn’t done it yet, but it seemed like it might make cooking and washing a bit easier.  So, we took our supplies into the kitchen and found a cook top.  I was in the process of making taco soup (yes, I reverted to easy recipes that I would make at home).  An Australian man asked me if I was just beginning my holiday.  I told him that we had been travelling for almost two weeks, but had just recently arrived on the South Island.  He then told me a little about where they had been and recommended a holiday park in Queenstown and Wanaka.  After that we began talking to another couple, who had just finished travelling the South Island, they gave us a few of the same tips and we talked about where they had been and where we were going.  

Once we were finished chatting with other campers we sat down to enjoy our taco soup and take in some New Zealand television – the first we had seen since Auckland almost two weeks before.  The show that was on was similar to the American show Four Weddings that is on TLC.  It was pretty entertaining and gave us some insight into what prime time tv is like in New Zealand. 

The next morning we decided to go into Christchurch for coffee and breakfast.  I programmed our GPS to take us to downtown Christchurch.  As we grew closer we realized that the city that was mapped out in the GPS was not the city we were entering.  We had heard from people we met on our trip through New Zealand that Christchurch was destroyed, but we had no idea until we arrived what they meant.  I knew there would be crumbled buildings and reconstruction, but it was so much worse than I pictured in my mind. 

 

We found a place to park on the outside of the fenced in Central Business District and walked around a fenced off bridge to cross the Avon River.  What we found was a small commercial area made up of shipping/train containers repurposed to make shops and cafés.  Since we hadn’t had breakfast we stopped into a container café and ordered scones and coffee – a flat white for Charles and a latte for me.  As we sat there in container city we discussed the similarities to Katrina in New Orleans and also the extreme contrast between a disaster zone of a hurricane and that of an earthquake.  The thing that stood out the most was the extreme sense of community that seemed to flow through the city.  The simplicity of those containers holding the shops and restaurants that brought the city back to some sense of normalcy was incredible. 

Re:Start Cashel Mall - Container City

Container City in Christchurch

The previous day we had discussed taking a tour through the Red Zone of the Central Business District of Christchurch, and after seeing what we found when we arrived in the downtown area we decided that was the best way to see what the city once had been.  We went and signed up for the tour and while we were waiting for the next tour to start, we walked through the city’s botanical gardens.  They were beautiful – filled with tulips and daffodils and pansies.  

Sequoia in Christchurch Botanical Gardens

 The tour was conducted from a bus and all passengers have to sign a release acknowledging that they are entering the red zone, which is highly fragile and dangerous due to unstable buildings.  Once all of us agreed to proceed with the tour we were off with our guide from the Christchurch museum to explain the surroundings.  We wound through the town as she pointed out facts about the earthquake – there have been 12,000 aftershocks since the original earthquake in September 2010, the clock tower near the center of town is stopped at the time the earthquake hit, 70% of the buildings in downtown will end up being deconstructed, the city of Christchurch will be much smaller after rebuilding…..

Clocktower stopped on the time the earthquake struck

Twinkle-toes deconstructing a building in CBD Christchurch

The facts went on and on and the destruction seemed never ending, and yet there was so much hope and so much pride in the city.  It was uplifting to see how excited the citizens were about the plans for their city.  There is so much vision that I can only imagine that it will once again be a great tourist destination sometime soon.  

Containers holding up the wall of a building

Cathedral in Christchurch

After our tour of the Red Zone we went back to the Re:Start Cashel Mall to have lunch.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the container district was full of people eating and shopping and living their lives.  It really amazing to see the vision for the city of Christchurch, I hope to come back one day to see it completely rebuilt.