Surprise visit to Christchurch

It all started with be saying ‘Hey, it’s only the 30th today’ for us to realise that we’d made an error on the itinerary and had an extra day that we’d not booked accomodation for.  We decided that our best option was to stop off in Christchurch as there were lots of hotels in town, so finding a room at short notice didn’t present too big a problem.

So after enjoying our last breakfast at the cottage in Hanmer, with the usual guests the bumble bees and local bird life, we set off down the highway. It is only a couple of hours drive to Christchurh, so I took the opportunity to do a bit more drone work along the river … firstly getting taking the view back to the north west….

And then to the south east …

While I was doing this Deb was organising lodgings in Christchurch, so when I got back to the car we were ready to continue. It’s a pretty easy drive down to Christchurch although there was a bit of traffic on the road as people started heading away for the new year long weekend. In New Zealand, 2 January is also a public holiday, because they don’t do holidays for show days, horse races or football finals.

We stopped for lunch at Amberley, about 40 kms short of Christchurch at the Norwester Cafe. They served me a great carbonara and Deb a BLT, prior to us sharing a belgian slice and coffee. The staff were very friendly and enthusiastic, so it was well wort the stop. From there we drove to our hotel and Deb deciphered the instructions to use the washer / dryer which resulted in the clothes being washed twice and dried once.

We then took a walk into the city centre, and to be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. We’d heard a lot about the earthquakes as they happened, but I’d expected the reconstruction would be further advanced than it was.

We walked through the area known as ‘The Commons’ which was really an area for people to gather, collaborate and share ideas while essential services were restored. It became a community of creatives in the following months and years. The arches being symbolic of the vibe of the commons.

Many of you who know me well are aware that I am not a particularly religious person, however I do appreciate the architectural contribution of religious buildings. The Christchurch Cathedral was one such building. The engineers seemed to have stabilised it, but I don’t know where the money will come from to restore it, so it makes a sad sight at the moment.

As we walked around more of the city area, it occurred to us that the city was still quite deserted, despite some new shops and buildings now being completed. I reflected upon the trivial of public discourse in Australia while here was a city that had lost half of it’s CBD buildings, and the whole country seems to have embraced the reconstruction with a real community spirit. Post-earthquake a market was created from old shipping containers and this still exists today, although the stalls are pretty commercial and reflect Brisbane’s Eat Street markets.

 With the large numbers of construction sites resulting in exposed walls, street art in Christchurch is spectacular. I particularly liked this one…

All this walking around made us very hungry, so we found a restaurant within walking distance of our motel called ‘Saggio di vino’. Our host David, who turned out to be the restaurant owner was one of the more knowledgeable sommeliers I have met. We had the 5 course Degustation menu that provided an amazing array for flavours with perfectly matched wines. The menu covered all the food groups starting with a Seafood Chowder, Beef Carpaccio, Salmon, Chicken and Panacotta. I would highly recommend a visit should you be in Christchurch.

In closing, I would make the point that not all buildings in Christchurch had fallen down. There are a lot of beautiful heritage houses that are still standing… like this one I walked past.

Until tomorrow!