Christchurch under construction

Didn’t know much about this city before we arrived, bar the terrible earthquake.

It is very much a city in the re-making and there are cranes and diggers everywhere.

Having dropped the campervan off, we arrived too early to check into our hotel. We decided to wander into the city, and passed a sign “electric scooters for hire”.

I couldn’t deny stuart this pleasure as he’s been wanting to get one for as long as I can remember! Turned out to be a good way to get around and see a good chunk of the city in a few hours.

We scooted past the cardboard cathedral, which is a temporary cathedral built following the devastating quake in 2011. Its colourful facade and calm interior looked lovely in the shiny sun.

Then onto the chair memorial where 185 Chairs have been painted white to remember the victims of the quake.

Scooting further into the city we stopped for a burrito at the Restar Mall, which is a collection of shipping containers housing various shops and even a bank! Scooting on we visited the famous C1 espresso coffee house. It’s home is the former post office and the ceiling is covered by pneumatic tubes which deliver food with a ding of a bell! The toilets are hidden behind a bookcase and instead of background music to accompany you, they were playing the Harry Potter audiobook read by Stephen Fry. Really cool place in an area where there is - like a lot of Christchurch - demolished buildings and colourful street art.

Before handing back our scooters we circled round Hagley Park where people were playing cricket, croquet and sailing remote controlled boats on the lake.

We were quite tired after travelling 3,300km around New Zealand - North and South - so a brief visit to a Thai restaurant before turning in.

Having to check out at 10am (why is it so early everywhere here!?!) we headed to Quake City, the museum dedicated to Christchurch’s history with Earthquakes. In particular it covers the tragedy of 2011 where 185 died, 7,000 were injured and huge amounts of damage was done to buildings and infrastructure. There are video testimonials and images of the post quake destruction. There are also examples of how the city has, and continues to, rebuild itself using new technology, creativity and community spirit.

On the walk back to the hotel we couldn’t resist a go on the Dance O Mat. $2 buys you 30 minutes of power and lights to plug in your music and dance on the dance floor under the disco ball 🕺🏻💃🏻

You can really see all around how this city is adapting to the threat of further quakes and regenerating into a vibrant place. All in all quite a cool place but a little quiet people wise compared to others places we’ve been. whether it’s due to emigrating population or the holidays coming up I do not know..Read more