Christchurch

Beyond a few quick tips thrown at us from Eliot, Ethel, and friends, Ed and I didn't know much about Christchurch. Nevertheless, I was excited to check out a new place. Wanaka is idyllic and wonderful and everyone there seems happy all the time. (Really, they do. It's almost ridiculous how happy everyone is.) But I wondered what a city in New Zealand would be like. Would the pace still be slow? Would people be as quick to smile and chat?

We set off from Wanaka to drive the hour to Queenstown a little early, as we planned to stop in Arrowtown, a tiny settlement just outside Queenstown with a breakfast spot called Chop Shop that, apparently, was not to be missed. Arrowhead was picturesque in a way that seemed too good to be true, with dramatic hillsides and front gardens bursting with flowers. But when we arrived at Chop Shop, a sign told us that the extractor fan was broken and the repairman on the roof confirmed that it was "proper buggered, eh," so we were forced to move on. A little French place with an patio next to a park sufficed.

Properly fueled, our next stop was a road right next to the airport where all the locals park to avoid long-term parking fees. From the spot we found for our car, the walk to the terminal took about four minutes. Security for domestic flights in NZ is wonderfully different from the US. The line was short and moved quickly. We had to take our laptops out of our bags, but our shoes stayed on. When I asked Eliot if we had to be careful about the amount of liquid we had in our carry-ons, he laughed and told us that, if we wanted to, we could take opened bottles of wine onto the plane. As the local saying goes, "Sweet as!"

If you ever fly north out of Queenstown, insist on a window seat on the left side of the airplane. The view of the mountains, aptly named the Remarkables, ain't half bad.

The flight took only about an hour, and in short order we were heading into Christchurch, or ChCh as people here often write it. After Wanaka's rolling hills, it was a little strange to see billboards, but the city itself was still attractive. Our first stop was the Curator's House, a restaurant along one edge of the Botanical Garden. We'd heard the garden was wonderful and hoped to kill two birds with one stone by eating right next to it. The restaurant itself felt like something out of Stratford Upon Avon, and the the views of the garden from all the windows was nothing short of charming. I loved our lunch and loved the garden even more. We found, to our surprise, that admission is free, and spent a (for me) deliriously happy hour strolling lush lawns, admiring the river, and gaping at the riot of color bursting from each flowerbed. I took few pictures, as I knew they couldn't come close to doing the place justice.

The Tudor-style building in the background is the Curator's House restaurant.

I was slightly dismayed to find that our hotel seemed to be in the middle of a construction zone. Ed stayed in the room to rest and I took myself on a walking tour of the city. I was astonished to discover that the construction zone seemed to encompass all of downtown. I'd read little about the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes that devastated Christchurch, but their aftermath is very much apparent even six years later. Research in the room later taught me that ChCh was hit by a seven-point-something earthquake in 2010 at 4:30 A.M., but there were few casualties and not TOO much damage. The second quake in 2011, though, was weaker but closer to the surface and caused catastrophic damage. Buildings that had been weakened by the first quake toppled, and since it was midday this time instead of the middle of the night, 185 people on their lunch breaks or working in tall office buildings were killed.

According to a couple from Denver who started chatting to us in a restaurant (i.e. Take this with a grain of salt), part of the delay in reconstruction was due to the lengthy process of figuring out which buildings were salvageable and which had to be demolished--fair enough--and part of it was political. Based on the architects' renderings on lots of the construction fences, the green walls that have sprung up all over the place, and the abundance of sculptures and whimsical, colorful outdoor furniture arranged in public places, ChCh seems to be committed to rebuilding a fresh and creative city. For now, though, I have to say the walk wasn't very pleasant. Sidewalks were often blocked off by equipment and the noise and dust from construction was everywhere. Few restaurants and shops seemed open for business, and although I saw people in office attire walking purposefully down sidewalks around 5:00, I couldn't imagine where they'd worked all day or where they were going; it felt like a war zone.

The remains of the cathedral

Just about all of downtown looks like this. Closed sidewalks were a particular annoyance, since cars drive on the left here and crossing streets is trickier for me than it is elsewhere in the world. I was never 100% confident that I'd looked where I was supposed to look before stepping into the street, even after glancing over both shoulders several times each.

The exception was reStart, a small collection of shipping containers-turned-retail spaces, in the middle of downtown. This was the first area to reopen after the second earthquake, apparently, and there are shops and several food trucks.

On a very good recommendation from Eliot, Ed and I walked to a part of the city that didn't seem to have sustained much damage to have pre-dinner cocktails at Boo Radley's. I loved the decor and service, and our drinks were top-notch. I recommend the Fig Old-Fashioned. Actually, I recommend two... Spending money in ChCh suddenly took on a new significance and I was glad to be supporting the scrappy, friendly city with our wallets. Our next stop was Strawberry Fare, where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner as the sun set and saved room for our dessert thanks to a well-timed tip from our cocktail waitress.

Although Christchurch is the third-biggest city in NZ (it was second in line until the earthquakes), Ed and I found it easy to walk around the downtown area, and we set out on foot again the next morning to go to C One, another recommendation from Eliot. This wonderful coffee shop has a great, retro vibe, excellent food, and clever touches that keep you entertained as you sip. We walked through a doorway hidden by a bookshelf to find the restroom (inside which a Harry Potter audiobook was playing) and filled our water glasses from an old sewing machine reconfigured into a spigot.

Turn the wheel to turn on the water! (If there hadn't been a slight drip coming from the hidden tap within we'd never have figured it out.)

I really liked Christchurch and recommend a visit there, but I imagine that if one holds out for a few more years it will be be even better. Give the construction teams swarming the city time to finish putting up all the innovative structures that are planned. 

Having gotten a dose of urban life, we got back on the road after polishing off our coffees to head west for a more natural setting.