Post Quake Christchurch

We woke early for our drive to Christchurch and gave Ned a thorough clean before packing up our belongings. We'd agreed to drop Ned off at around 2.00pm and this gave time for a leisurely drive over Gebbies Pass stopping for lunch in the port of Lyttelton.

Lyttelton had suffered significant damage in the 2011 earthquake and this was evident as we drove into the town centre. Many buildings had been demolished. There was however a terrific sense of community and a lively farmers market underway. We enjoyed walking through the produce stalls and community oriented shops. 

One of the community shops in Lyttelton

One stall provided our lunch, a delicious hot pie eaten in the sunshine whilst listening to live music. We also visited a conservation and heritage project: Grubb Cottage. Built by one of the original founders of Lyttleton, John Grubb, this cottage, which dates back to 1851, miraculously survived the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. It is now run by a trust (http://www.grubbcottage.org.nz/) and I chatted to a volunteer about the conservation work and shared information about Grange Court in Leominster (http://www.grangecourt.org/). If the latter website has had hits from NZ its probably my fault!

Eventually it was time to hand back Ned and check into a motel for our last three nights in New Zealand. This all went smoothly and our motel room was lovely..and seemed enormous after the confines of Ned! We walked around the corner to see the local shops and restaurants and finally settled on an Indian takeaway from the wonderfully named Argee Bhajee. I had a delicious venison curry. 

Next day we walked into Christchurch city centre. Prior to the earthquake of 2011 Christchurch was considered the most English of New Zealand cities with hundreds of historic Victorian Gothic style buildings. It is New Zealand's second largest city. Our walk took us through Hagley Park, across a bridge over the River Avon and into the Botanic Gardens. With imported English oak and sycamore, formal rose gardens and flower beds it had all the hallmarks of an English park. There was little sign of any damage.

The Botanic Gardens

The walk to the centre took about 20 minutes and we were not prepared for the scenes of devastation in the city centre. Its worth recounting what happened. On 4th September 2010 a 7.1 magnitude quake struck 25 miles west of Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains, at 4.35am. It caused significant damage to infrastructure but no-one died or was seriously injured - in part because almost everyone was asleep.


On 22nd February 2011 at 12.51pm another powerful 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch but this time the results were far more serious. The quake was shallow in depth and the energy released was trapped by the volcanic rock of the nearby Banks peninsula. The epicentre was close to Christchurch itself. This combination of factors magnified the impact and in addition a process known as liquefaction caused the soil below to liquefy and erupt upwards undermining building foundations and covering streets and gardens in a thick mud like substance. It was lunchtime when the quake struck and many people were out shopping and office workers were taking their lunch in a busy city centre. Buildings collapsed and 185 people were killed. In the 12 months that followed there were 1000s of aftershocks including a 5.1 shock in 2012. 

We learnt much of this in an informative and emotionally powerful exhibition called 'Quake City'. It had video footage and interviews with survivors that brought lumps to our throats. Just over three years on the city is still deeply scarred by these events and our walk to the main shopping area brought this home. Its hard to describe accurately and convey the impact but 75%-80% of the buildings in the central business district have been demolished or are awaiting demolition. The most striking casualty is the old Anglican cathedral. 

The old cathedral in ruins

A battle is raging over whether or not to demolish the cathedral. The Anglican church wants to do so but conservationists believe the existing building can be saved and restored. I found myself sympathising with the conservationists in part because the city has so little of its heritage remaining.

Walking around the CBD felt surreal. It was eerily quiet for a large city and felt more like a movie set for some post apocalyptic thriller. Everywhere we went there were empty spaces where buildings had once stood, twisted piles of steel and masonry or half demolished buildings. It was incredibly sad.

The most poignant and achingly sad spot was an art installation standing on the site of a church (now demolished) called 185 Empty Chairs. This is on the opposite corner to the CTV building which collapsed killing 115 people. Subsequent investigations have revealed faults in the construction of this building. Each white chair represents and acts as a memorial for each of the victims who ranged in age from just a few months to the elderly. 

The city is clearly still grieving but amongst the wreckage the rebuild is starting and many temporary measures are underway to aid what will be a long and incredibly costly process of recovery. A pop up style shopping area called the Re:START Mall has opened using brightly coloured old shipping containers and retailers are once again operating - albeit in small numbers. Around the city buildings have been decorated with community art and temporary arts spaces.  

Part of the Re:START Mall

Community art

One or two areas have been restored. An enterprising coffee house has reopened in an old post office building, sharing space with an arts centre, and New Regent Street has some restored Spanish Mission style buildings which are once again trading as shops and businesses.

New Regent Street

Christchurch also has a cathedral again. A Japanese architect has designed and built a temporary cardboard and steel cathedral. This sounds like an unlikely combination of building materials but it is apparently extremely stable and designed to withstand further earthquake shocks.

Views of the Temporary Cathedral

On our second day in Christchurch we visited the absorbing Canterbury Museum and took a ride on a old tram. The tram lines are limited to one stretch at the moment but it saved our legs which had done a lot of walking over the previous few days. In the museum was 'Fred and Myrtles Paua House'. Fred and Myrtle Flutey decorated their home in Bluff with thousands of paua shells that Fred had collected from the beach. This became a bit obsessive but also a tourist attraction and after they had died the house was dismantled and has been erected inside the museum.

Fred and Myrtles Front Room

I advised Mrs B. that she shouldn't get any interior design ideas....

And so we came to our final day in New Zealand. As the forecast wasn't great we caught a shuttle bus to the International Antarctic Centre(IAC). Christchurch is the supply and support bases for the permanent US, UK and New Zealand Antarctic bases. As well as research work there is a visitor centre open to the public. It was great fun. First off we went to see blue penguins being fed. They were all 'rescue' penguins, affected by an illness or injury and incapable of surviving in the wild. 

Feeding time

The IAC had provided a safe and secure home with burrows, a large pool and plenty of space and stimulation. Next up was a 4D movie experience. The movie took us on a voyage to the Antarctic and in addition to a 3D film we got moving seats, spray and wind and snow. It was great fun although Mrs B. was shrieking rather a lot when getting sprayed. After my hearing had recovered we went for a ride on the Hagglund vehicle. These are caterpillar tracked vehicles capable of climbing very steep ground, operating on slopes sideways on and they are amphibious...and was demonstrated when we entered 3 meters of water. They are used in the Antarctic to transport people around but are incredibly uncomfortable. After a bumpy ride we returned to the centre to view some of the exhibitions about the early exploration of the Antarctic, the geology, climate and wildlife. The final main attraction was an opportunity to experience an Antarctic blizzard. Donning insulated coats we entered a cold room (-8c) and waited for the blizzard to begin. 

Sadly this was just a static snowmobile

Temperature dropping..

Mrs B. waiting for a blizzard...and doing a penguin impression

Wind machines increased the wind speed to 25mph and the temperature dropped to -18c. It was quite chilly but I suspect not that extreme...I've experienced more cold on the top of Clee Hill in Shropshire. I suppose they don't want to give tourists frostbite!

We whiled away the time watching the blue penguins who all had different personalities and the penguin keeper gave us a behind the scenes look at two female penguins who had fallen for each other and were snuggled up in a burrow. Thankfully gay partnerships seem perfectly acceptable in the penguin world.

Eventually the time came to a) remind Mrs B. we couldn't take a penguin with us and b) leave. We had backpacks to collect and a flight to catch. We checked in our baggage at Christchurch airport and reflected on the wonderful times New Zealand had given us. A land of great contrasts, uncrowded, quirky, harsh and ever changing landscapes, ever present danger from the earth below, unique wild life encounters and some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet. In addition the people were kind and friendly, the food was good and the weather was generally warm and dry (apart from the West Coast). There was one final delight. As the plane took off we were treated to a glorious sunset. It seemed a fitting end to our time in Aetearoa - the land of the long white cloud.