Christchurch - Hanmer Springs

For our day in Christchurch we got some hop on hop off tickets for the tram. It's a great way to explore the city and hopping on and off the tram meant we could jump off and explore. The tram driver also gives you some information about the city as he drove around. There were 3 trams in service today and we happened to hop not only the oldest and prettiest tram but the same tram that Prince Harry rode when he visited.

Christchurch itself was very badly damaged back in the 2011 earthquake and is still recovering. The city is full of construction workers and the majority of the buildings are covered in scaffolding. According to the tram driver there are a few stores due to open up soon however they still have a very long way to go. I didn't expect the city to have so much building work still going on 6 years later. We passed a very moving memorial to the 185 people that lost their life in the earthquake. It was 185 empty white chairs and each chair pays tribute to a particular individual. We also went to the see the Cardboard Cathedral, the roof of which is made out of huge cardboard tubes and again was built post quake.

We decided to make the Botanical Gardens our first stop on the tram. We passed people punting on the river and walked past lots of daffodils and snowdrops. After a short stroll (as Simon was bored of gardens by this point) we walked down to the art gallery as the tram driver had recommended going to see the Len Lye exhibit. The exhibit focuses on sound, light and motion and it was actually pretty good. There were around 8 pieces in total, some of which only moved at certain time intervals. A few of them were huge fibre optic tubes which moved around, not dissimilar to the smaller version I had as a kid. One of them was red and yellow and when it moved it resembled fire.

After the exhibition, we headed to the Re:start Mall. Because of the earthquake, the majority of the retail shops were damaged so they created a new mall out of shipping containers. It's pretty cool and they have lots of different food places, a bit like Whapping Wharf in Bristol. We then hopped back on the tram to continue our tour of the city, getting off at New Regent Street. The street was built in the 40's entirely in the Spanish Mission style. There was also a delicious gelato shop which we may have walked into by accident and came out with some to die for salted caramel ice cream and some fudge and peanut butter concoction that was also delicious.

For the evening we had bought tickets to the spa and pools in Hanmer Springs which were around 90 minutes north of Christchurch, so after our ice cream we headed out. Whilst it was freezing outside, the hot pools were lovely and hot. From sulphur pools, to mineral pools, we spent a nice hour or so relaxing before heading to a nearby free spot to camp for the evening and rustling up some tuna and pasta.Read more