December in ChCh (pt. 1)

Everyone says you ‘find yourself’ while travelling, and I think I am starting to find things out about myself now I have been journeying for a couple of months. The main thing I have learnt is that I am not a committed blogger, hence why I have barely done any blogging, and I now leave myself months behind reality and wondering how I am going to catch up. When I am in another country full of new experiences, I find motivation to get my laptop out in the evening and go through some photos and write some absorbing prose somewhat lacking. I have a new-found respect for those who are disciplined enough to do this.

Anyway, we have been in New Zealand for about six weeks now, and I am starting to feel settled and at ‘home’. For the first four weeks or so, we decided to base ourselves in Christchurch, where we originally flew into. This was largely due to the good fortune we had to find a couple with a lovely beach-side property who needed somebody to house-sit their place for three weeks. The only ‘jobs’ we had to undertake during this time were to ensure the cats, Chris (who was very fat) and Rinoa (who ate 1/4 of our Christmas turkey) were fed, the five chickens were happy and healthy, the sourdough was kept alive (probably the most important to our hostess), and the AirBnB guests in the sleep-out were content. This gave us lots of time to sort out all the admin that comes with moving to a new country (bank accounts, buying a car, mobile phones etc.), but also loads of time to discover what is a really interesting, rapidly changing city, particularly if you have a Geography teacher point-of-view (which we both do – if any Geography friends want some info about the Changing Place of Christchurch then please send us a message!). Having spent a month in ‘ChCh’ (as it is locally referred to), I could write reams about all the different things we did, but having been so lazy I now have to try and condense all these experiences into something more manageable than the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I am going to pick out 10 things – spread over two posts – that I think are ‘highlights’ which we experienced while we were there.

The weather during our first couple of weeks in New Zealand was exceptional – a big blocking high pressure bringing warm Northwesterly winds to the country. On one of our first trips out we took advantage by walking over the hills to the South of the city to the suburb of Lyttelton. The hills thrust up from the Canterbury Plains giving them commanding views across the city and the rest of the region, and are actually part of the remains of two huge volcanoes which together make up what is now referred to as the Banks Peninsula. The walk is pretty easy, but the 30+ degree heat made it a little more taxing, and we were certainly glad when we arrived in Lyttelton to see that there were numerous bars to choose from for a pint. We had no preconceptions of what Lyttelton would be like, but we were enamerred with it straight away. Lyttelton is built around a port in a protected bay on the peninsula, and has historically served as ChCh’s main port. While only 15mins from the centre of ChCh by road (through a tunnel in the hills), the topography gives the suburb a separate ‘village’ feel. The houses cling to the sides of the hills up incredibly steep roads with fantastic views over the azure bay. The high street is home to numerous bars which were all buzzing and some quirky, hipster-y shops interspersed with lots of maritime-themed street art. We had a few beers, chowed down on some ludicrously cheap (but fantastic) fish and chips, and then caught the bus back through the tunnel to ChCh.

In 2010 and 2011, Christchurch and the surrounding area was subject to an incredibly destructive sequence of earthquakes, now referred to as the ‘Canterbury Quakes’. Christchurch is still very much recovering from the effects of these events, as a result of which 90% of the CBD and vast residential areas had to be torn down, and 185 people lost their lives. The streets themselves tell the story of the quakes; In some areas (and ever-increasingly), the complete overhaul of devastated areas has led to a beautiful modern city emerging from the dust. Conversely, there are still areas awaiting this regeneration where large brownfield sites lay barren, and the frustrated locals pine for the ‘soul’ to be installed back to their little piece of Christchurch. By far the most powerful way to learn about this dramatic recent history is to explore the streets, and talk to the locals (everybody has a story), but if you are looking for a streamlined version, then the Quake City museum devoted to the events is a fantastic stop. The museum is not big, but packs an incredible amount of very digestible information into it. I was impressed with how Quake City blended the emotion of the events, the science of the events, and how technology and innovation in earthquake engineering have come on as a result of the events. For anyone interested in Geography (or just earthquakes), it is a brilliant resource.

For a more artistic and emotional tribute to the events, the installation ‘185 White Chairs’ is a beautiful memorial. The installation consists of 185 unique chairs painted white, and arranged just opposite the site of the CTV building, where many of those who lost their lives in the quake were killed when the building collapsed. It is a very emotive spot, and often you will walk past at a peaceful moment (the CBD is still uncharacteristically quiet) while no-one is there at all.

We were in Christchurch over Christmas. I am a very big fan of a British Christmas and all of the rubbish that comes with it, so I was struggling to feel ‘Christmassy’ while it was the middle of Summer and I was on the other side of the planet. To remedy this situation, we attempted to go to as many Christmassy events that we could in an attempt to feel festal and jolly and see how the Kiwis ‘do’ Christmas. By complete chance, one Sunday we came across crowds awaiting a ‘Santa Parade’ in the suburb of Riccarton, so we thought we would stay and watch. I have never seen a Santa parade, I think its an American thing, and to be honest it was completely bizarre. For an hour, a procession of seemingly random floats went past, the only requirement being that they must have shoved a bit of tinsel somewhere. There were some very entertaining exhibitors; the international resident groups (e.g. Chinese, Japanese), the fire fighters spraying water at everyone (it was 30+C), drumming groups and BMXers. Conversely, There were some that were downright bizarre; sheep in a car, dinosaur on a horse, festal Storm Troopers, demented Peppa Pig waving from a trailer…. It was an interesting experience but it wasn’t the most festive thing I’ve ever seen – Santa on the last float shooting out fake snow in 30 degree heat and sunshine just doesn’t fit with my selfish Northern Hemisphere idea of Christmas.

Another festal activity we did was visit a Christmas Light show. About 20km out of Christchurch, a guy decks out a courtyard on his farm with over 500,000 LEDs and then gets them all to flash and glow in time with music. It’s a really cool thing to see, one of the best light shows I’ve seen and well worth the $5 to get in, even if the festal animatronic skeleton death metal band is a bit out of place…

Christchurch is often referred to as the Garden City of New Zealand and with good reason, there is a fantastic array of parks. The zenith is the Botanical Gardens just to the West of the city centre. Free to enter, and wonderfully quiet, these gardens give Kew a run for its money in terms of beautifully manicured borders and diversity of flora represented. Aside from looking nice, the gardens also fulfil an important role in preserving the endemic flora of New Zealand. Our first AirBnB host Wayne, a PhD student at the University of Canterbury studying New Zealand’s plant life, gave us the low down on how the botanists at the University and Botanical Gardens collaborate to research and rescue native species. More importantly (for me), there are loads of birds in the gardens, especially on the banks of the River Avon which winds through the site, and many of them are very tame and will walk right up to you which is something that doesn’t happen too often in the UK (apart from ‘pigeons’ and ‘seagulls’). Its a great place for a stroll or to chill on the grass on a hot day.

Thanks if you’re still reading – there’s going to be some long posts while I catch up! Hopefully, I’ll do the second part in the next couple of days…or weeks….or months.

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