Christchurch: a city survives

The morning after my birthday celebration it was an early start to get to the airport for our flight to Christchurch.  It is a very quick flight to Christchurch and we were able to pick up our car and be on our way by mid-morning.

The "Bubble Car"

We had intended to go to Akaroa after having a look around Christchurch as I had not been to either since the big earthquake in 2011.  Public transport probably was not going to be very useful so I found the cheapest car I could at Thrifty Car Rentals.  It was described as a small “Metro car”.  The mirth that erupted when Bev saw our small bubble car was something to behold.  Unfortunately time was not going to permit a trip to Akaroa as it was just going to be too far and not allow us to look around Christchurch.

Our first stop was the airBnB place we had booked because it was close to the station in Addington.  When we arrived the host also burst into laughter when he saw our tiny car but I pointed out that we had managed to fit our two overnight bags in the boot!

We went to the New Brighton Pier and watched people fishing before heading to Sumner where it was possible to see the ongoing effects of the earthquake. On the cliffs there were houses which were hanging over the cliff because the cliff had fallen away.  At the base of the cliffs were houses that had long been abandoned.  Containers lined the road; obviously to stop rocks and boulders crashing onto passing cars and to protect some the houses on the other side of them. Everywhere there was evidence of houses having been repaired. It was rather surreal  and hard to imagine what it must have been like for those who had to abandon their houses and those more fortunate ones who didn't.

Where the cinema once was in Lyttleton

In Lyttleton we had lunch and a wander around the business area which had been devastated.  There were empty lots everywhere where clearly buildings of some sort had once stood.  On the main street there were gaps and also some good news stories where a building such as the one in which we had lunch had somehow survived.    It was clearly strongly reinforced despite being brick.

We took Dyers Pass Rd back to Christchurch, which resulted in a fit of hysterics from Bev as the car screamed in protest climbing the hill to a place called Sign of the Kiwi.  That place is  now closed due essential earthquake repairs.  There were quite a few people there looking out over Christchurch and quite a few cyclists riding on the roads. 

The Tannery

There is a place called The Tannery which I had heard about and we found where it was and went there.  It is a new shopping centre that is in an old Tannery.  It was interesting to see places that are not in the centre of the city or in a major residential area become viable due to the earthquake. The Tannery is very well done with lots of boutique stores.  

New Regent Street

Container shops

We  then returned to the centre of the city or at least where it once way.  The trams are running a circuit to Hagley Park from New Regent Street and back with New Regent Street remarkably being still in much the same condition as when I was last here.  Somehow  a number of the older buildings had survived.  We took a tram ride which was very expensive but we justified it on the basis that it was supporting the city.  We spent about an hour wandering around.  For me what I noticed was how many of the old landmarks had disappeared.  Everywhere there are empty lots.  Amazingly the old Post Office still survives whereas across Cathedral Square the Cathedral is wreck.  Near Ballantyne' s there are container shops which are very cute and do provide a place for people to be seen and to shop, but apart from a couple of hotels there is very little of what would be termed a central city area. Everywhere building is now beginning but there are also buildings to still to be demolished.  Victoria Square is there but there are none of the buildings that used to surround it.  There was a very nice looking hotel called the Crowne Plaza on one side of it which is now completely gone.  At least the Arts Centre still stands and is in the process of being repaired and strengthened.   We were both shocked by the devastation and while I had seen it on TV I don’t think that until one has been there that it is possible to comprehend the scale of the devastation. 

Christchurch always seemed to me to be a place without a strong beating heart in the same sense that Wellington has a very vibrant centre. With the central business area having relocated to the suburbs there does seem to be that vibrant busy centre that most sizeable cities have.   It just feels like a massive series of joined up suburbs, perhaps a little like Los Angeles.  Addington, where we stayed now consisted of a few low rise office buildings and several restaurants was illustrative of what had happened. 

The mortally damaged Cathedral in the background

More open space

Part of Cathedral Square