Christchurch

Our tour of the South Island began in Christchurch, a very pleasant place indeed. We spent two full days taking in the sights and admiring the attractive gothic revival buildings - or, at least, those that were still upright after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

Christchurch, named for the Oxford University college, was founded by a bunch of Englishmen called the Canterbury Association, who acquired land, made up suitable English-sounding place names and, in 1850, sent four ships loaded with settlers over to establish a colony.

On a cloudy-but-warm Sunday, we wandered through the botanic gardens, full of spring blooms and cherry blossoms, then back along the banks of the River Avon before a quick lunch amongst the crowds at the Riverside Markets.

Then in the afternoon we visited Quake City, the museum dedicated to the earthquake-prone city and in particular the disastrous 2011 quake.

The exhibits and facts were interesting, but the stories told by the people who were actually in the quake were simply compelling and, in some cases, heartrending. Interestingly, at the conclusion of the museum was another segment showing the thoughts and experiences of the same people ten years on from the quake.

There is also a beautifully understated memorial wall on the bank of the river, listing in simple white marble the names of the victims.

After all that earthquake trauma, we needed some refreshment. We were lucky to get a tip from our friends Chris and Vicki about the Church Hotel. It was (once) a real church, given a delightfully irreligious makeover into a pub, with lots of live music, lots of craft beers and lots of people having fun.

It was so good that we broke our “five o’clock - beer o’clock “ rule just this once. So far.

Our second day found us riding the Christchurch Gondola, 448 metres up to the top of Mt Cavendish. The views from the top, both south to the port of Lyttleton and north over Christchurch and to the distant snow-covered mountains, were superb.

We took a bit of a walk around outside before riding the Christchurch Discovery Ride, an interesting, though maybe slightly condensed, six-minute journey through the millions of years of Canterbury’s geographic and cultural history. It was quite entertaining.

Back in town, we visited the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral - the “Cardboard Cathedral “ - built as a temporary structure for use whilst the real cathedral was repaired. This is ongoing, so the temporary five-year structure, with a roof supported by cardboard beams, is still doing good service fourteen years after the earthquake.Читать далее