Christchurch (the one in New Zealand)

Today I said goodbye to Lake Tekapo. Before hitting the road to Christchurch, I headed up to the Astro Café at Mt John’s Observatory, situated on top of a steep hill just outside of town. The coffee was good and the views amazing, offering me one last look at Mount Cook.

From there I made the pleasant drive and uneventful drive to Christchurch, the biggest city on New Zealand’s South Island – albeit with only 400,000 inhabitants. I started by exploring the small but richly stocked botanical gardens.

Next, I headed into the city centre. Christchurch was devastated by a severe earthquake in 2011, which killed around 170 people and left extensive damage. It caused two major buildings to collapse and left many others badly damaged – around 1/3 of the city centre’s constructions had to be demolished and rebuilt as a result. On my visit, these efforts seemed to be nearing completion and had left an interesting mix of old and new architecture.

Work was still ongoing to repair the cathedral, whose spire collapsed in the earthquake. A temporary replacement had been built a short distance away and is nicknamed the “cardboard cathedral”.

The sides of the newer buildings often had impressive street art, like the huge mural at the top of the page and lots of other examples throughout the city.

Christchurch seemed to have a very young population…….and a lot of bars and restaurants to keep them amused. I stopped to have a drink in one of them before heading back to my motel to cook dinner.

Whilst Christchurch is not a place you would travel across the world to see, in the context of my New Zealand trip it came as a pleasant break from the succession of natural wonders I had seen so far, and I liked it a lot. It had a dynamic, young and above all resilient vibe to it – an impressive outcome after the destruction of the 2011 earthquake. My brief visit left me refreshed for more adventures in New Zealand…..

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