Christchurch

We flew from Auckland to Christchurch on Monday and arrived in the South Island at 10:00am.  We picked up our rental car and drove to the city center.  Walking around Christchurch, Alex and I could not help but notice how bare and damaged many of the areas still are around the city.  Christchurch was hit by two very powerful earthquakes – the first in September 2010 (no lives were lost, but there was widespread damage) and then again in February 2011 (185 lives were lost and 80% of the city center buildings had to be demolished).  It is interesting to walk around as there are clear areas where regrowth and rebuilding has taken place, but even alongside the regrowth, you can still see badly damaged buildings and vacant storefronts. While in Christchurch, we visited the Canterbury Museum - Quake City, where we learned more about these devastating earthquakes and some of the recovery projects currently underway.  

185 Empty White Chairs - Representing the lives lost during the 2011 earthquake.  Each chair is unique, just as each person who lost their life was unique.

Part of the reason many of the buildings still sit damaged is the city cannot always agree how to spend the money on rebuilding and planning for the future.  One example is the Christchurch Cathedral which was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.  To this day, It still sits badly damaged and I read online the city has just recently voted to rebuild the church.  The rebuild is expected to take 10 years and cost over $93 million dollars.

One positive example of the regrowth is the Transitional Cathedral which opened in 2013 and was constructed in just 11 months.  It serves as the city’s temporary Anglican cathedral and has been nicknamed the Cardboard Cathedral due to the 98 cardboard tubes used in its construction. 

On Tuesday morning, we drove 15 minutes outside the city center to hike the Bridle Path Walk.  The walkway was originally constructed in 1850 and was used as a foot route across the Port Hills for Canterbury's first European settlers traveling between Lyttelton and Christchurch.  The hike was short, but VERY steep.  I was huffing and puffing by the time I made it to the top!  The views were beautiful and we got see just how big Christchurch actually is (396,000 people live here). 

We spent the rest of the morning touring around the Christchurch Art Gallery.  The museum is free to enter and had several really unique exhibitions.  The building itself was really pretty and filled with natural light. 

Alex and I then walked over to the Botanical Gardens.  It was a perfect Indian Summer day with 80-degree weather and plentiful sunshine.  Not a cloud in sight!  We laid around in the gardens to enjoy the afternoon and soak up the sun.  We finished our evening in Christchurch with dumplings from Potsticker and beers from Little Neighbourhood. 

We are leaving Christchurch tomorrow where Alex and I are heading to Tekapo to stay for one night.  Christchurch is an interesting and resilient city.  Although it continues to recover from the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, there is still plenty of beauty to be found.