February 24, 2018 – Christchurch, New Zealand

We’ve been looking forward to seeing Christchurch for some time. Jim visited here nearly 50 years ago and thought then that it must be one of the most wonderful places in the world to live – very much an English city, with far better weather, and green gardens everywhere. It had always been called “The Garden City,” with fully ⅓ of its land area devoted to greenspace – parks, gardens, and reserves. But we were apprehensive about what we’d see, after reading so much about the terrible devastation that occurred during the two severe earthquakes they experienced here, five months apart, in September 2010 and February 2011.

Quick history -- colonizers from the Church of England arrived here in 1850 to found a model church settlement. We understand that they had plans to build a city around a cathedral and college, on the model of Christ Church in Oxford. Today, it is the South Island’s largest city with a population of 375,000 -- the third largest city in all of New Zealand, after Auckland and Wellington.

Location – Christchurch lies on the east coast, near the center of the South Island of New Zealand, east of the Canterbury Plain. Christchurch has the Southern Alps to the West, and the Pacific Ocean to the east. We docked this morning at Lyttlelton, the gateway port for Christchurch.

We decided to go on our own into Christchurch, giving us time to wander around, and be sure to see those things in which we were interested. We caught the free shuttle bus, which took about 30 minutes to ride from the port to the central city. The shuttle dropped us off at the i-SITE Visitor Information Center, adjacent to the old Arts Center on Worcester Boulevard.

From there we purchased tickets to hop on an old vintage streetcar that runs on rails, named the Tram in Christchurch, for a 50-minute ride through the inner part of the city. We could use our ticket to hop on and hop off at any one of 17 stops. This was perfect for us – a great decision.

The tram driver gave an excellent commentary on the local landmarks and descriptions of the earthquake damage. They gave the impression that the city is bouncing back, but there is still a long way to go. It’s been seven years since the second (and most destructive) quake in February 2011, and many billions of dollars have been spent, but we still saw many vacant lots covered with rubble and buildings only half standing or just propped up. They are waiting for funding approval for repair or replacement. 

We were told that the 2011 earthquake brought down many buildings that had been damaged by the 2010 earthquake the previous September. Other buildings have been declared uninhabitable in the intervening years. More than half of the buildings in the central business district have since been demolished, including the city’s tallest building, a 20-story hotel. Of course, one of the biggest losses was the Christchurch Anglican Cathedral. Along the tram route, the driver pointed out the transitional place of worship, called the “Cardboard Cathedral.” 

After completing one loop of the tram, we hopped off at the closest stop for Canterbury Museum and the Botanic Garden. The museum has a notable collection of over 2 million items, including sections of the museum featuring Maori culture, the early colonizers, and natural history. Jim was especially interested in the section on Antarctic expeditions – Christchurch has been the gateway to Antarctica for over 100 years. After a lot of walking in the museum, we ate lunch at their café on the 4th floor.

The Botanic Garden is adjacent to the museum and is a large, magnificent green area in the city -- beautifully maintained and all-encompassing of flowers and trees from around the world, including a large section of native plantings. We were so happy to learn that at least this unique treasure of Christchurch survived the earthquakes nearly unscathed. In the interest of time (and our legs) we decided to take the 50-minute narrated Green Caterpillar tour of the gardens (an electrically-powered 20-person vehicle). The driver/guide was extraordinarily knowledgeable about what seemed like every plant and tree in the park. Cost for “seniors” was NZ$15.00 per person, and well worth it. The best parts of the gardens included the huge variety of plants, the immense rose garden, and the surprising number of Sequoia trees.

During the garden tour, we caught glimpses of the beautiful, meandering Avon River and people enjoying “punting” excursions on the river -- gliding down the river in a flat-bottomed boat with no keel, being pushed by a long pole wielded by a “punter” dressed in Edwardian fashion. This is definitely a highlight of Christchurch, but we settled for watching others enjoying the ride.

 

After our short visit, we can say that Christchurch is rebounding following the earthquakes, and there is a positive attitude, at least among the small sample of people we met. There seems to be a lot of creativity and innovation taking hold. We did see in many cases that old, historical properties are being replaced by modern, 21^st century structures. Some of that is good, but well known international commercial brands seem to be filling spaces where local companies formerly existed. These are tough decisions, and we wish them well.

Tomorrow we continue to head north on New Zealand’s South Island to Nelson, all the way to 41 degrees south latitude. 

Jim & Ginny