Tag Archives: South Island

Walking through Christchurch

Tuesday was my day to spend exploring Christchurch.

I briefly ducked into the Canterbury Museum but didn’t have much time before meeting my new friend (D) from Sunday’s bus ride, so I don’t really have much of an impression of it.

I met D and she proceeded to show me some of the notable spots and street art in the city center, and put in context some of what was there before the earthquakes. It was a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the city. Tourists and travellers often make quick judgements as they pass through a place, and unfortunately a snap judgement about Christchurch would likely be one of dismay that there is so much rebuilding to do. And that is a fair assessment. Christchurch in five or ten years will be a different place from what it is now, and is no doubt a different place now than it was. However, there are definitely still things to see, and there is a vibrant if still recovering city.

I mentioned a few days ago that it’s interesting to see the interim art and installations around the city. One temporary building that is on every tourist list is the Cardboard Cathedral, an interim structure built with what looks like huge hollow cardboard dowels as part of the support. The interior is rather Scandinavian modern, and it’s overall a light-filled, peaceful place. Lovely in its own right, yet very different from their old Cathedral, which five years on remains open to birds and the elements as they still have not decided what to do with it. The city and many residents want it restored, but apparently the church wants a new cathedral and so didn’t allow it to be protected from the elements. In the meanwhile, it remains in limbo, and seems like a painful reminder to citizens of Christchurch.

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As I mentioned, there is a fair amount of street art and pop-up installations. D showed me a bar in a bus, that started in the aftermath of the quake and is still going strong. Other pop-ups are moving into more permanent structures (for example, some of the shops in re: START) or, in the case of street art, are getting covered up by new construction. It’s a rapidly evolving city, it seems, though it does have a long way to go to rebuild.

One installation is a set of white painted chairs, one for each person who lost their life in the quake. There are baby carriers and wheelchairs as well. I’m not ashamed to say that I cried, especially after reading the message in the visitor book left by a couple of kids.

Christchurch is still a city of gardens. After my friend left, I spent some time in the lovely Botanic Gardens. They may be my favorite amongst all the botanical gardens I have visited thus far.

I then walked around some of the areas I had visited earlier and managed to go in circles because of construction closing sidewalks. Oh well.

Mountains and Hills, Buses and Trains – Part 1

On Monday, I took the Tranzalpine train across New Zealand’s Southern Alps, from Christchurch to Greymouth and back again. Doing so took me across the flat Canterbury plains (shaped like a wedge rising imperceptibly but substantially towards the mountains), through the “high country” where merino sheep graze in summer and Alpine tussocks abound, and through vistas of craggy snow-capped peaks (though less snow capped than usual for this time of year). The views between Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass were glorious! The train has a viewing car with no windows that I spent some time in despite the cold. The wind from the speed of the train at times brought tears to my eyes, but much of the time I spent out there was exhilarating.

From Arthur’s Pass, we then went through one of the longest tunnels in the world and emerged in a completely different landscape, and on a different tectonic plate. The mountains were covered in different trees on the western half, and shrouded in clouds and rain. Unfortunately I couldn’t really see much of anything due to poor visibility.

I had about thirty minutes in Greymouth, enough time to get some postcards and a pounamu (greenstone, or jade) pendant and to get thoroughly damp walking from the station into the town doing so.

The return was similar in terms of weather. It got dark before we arrived back at Christchurch so some of the viewing was sadly cut short.

I did enjoy seeing the difference between the east and west of the mountains, but if I had had less time in Christchurch, I think I would just have booked from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass. All the way to Greymouth and back does make for a long day. Not that I could tell because of the western clouds and rain in the west, but it also seems that the more dramatic scenery is on the east.

Also, since it is low season, there was plenty of room on the train, window seats to spare. I had booked from the US because I had been worried I wouldn’t get a seat (and therefore payed a premium as anyone without a New Zealand IP address does) but I would have been fine booking here. I am glad I had the security of knowing I had my booking, however, as I would have been dreadfully disappointed not to go. There was some breathtaking scenery!

The Long and Winding Road to Christchurch

On Sunday, I took the Intercity bus from Picton to Christchurch.

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Leaving Picton on a rainy morning

It was another pretty journey, with the area around Kaikoura passing a seal colony that spread over a few miles of coastline. You could see the seals on the rocks by the sea, but also up on the grass above the beach, right next to the road! It was delightful!

Some of the beaches we passed had what looked like grey sand (a similar color to gravel) and I’m wondering whether they are examples of the black sand beaches they have in New Zealand.

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A nice lady sat next to me between Kaikoura and Christchurch and we chatted for much of that leg of the trip. When I asked her what she would suggest I do on Tuesday when exploring the city, she offered to show me around!

I arrived at my B&B mid-afternoon, walking from the bus station via a hip little shopping center where the stores are located in shipping containers, called re:start. This is part of Christchurch’s interim renewal plan after the earthquakes.

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I took a couple of hours walk in the evening. Rebuilding is everywhere, with street art and city urban art sprinkled around. I hadn’t realized how much construction was still going on, five years after the earthquakes. Literally every other block had either a construction site or an empty lot or, occasionally, a building propped up with external supports, especially in the City Center area.  You are continually changing what side of the street you walk on because of the construction. It was rather sobering. I can’t wait to the city on Tuesday with a Christchurch resident. The city inspires great loyalty – people keep telling me how special it is – but with the construction right now it takes a little more digging to find that charm. Even in a quick walk, though, the charm of the new – and old -Christchurch is becoming evident. I get the impression the new is a little quirkier than the old.

When I went out for dinner, I discussed the construction a bit with the waitress (along with the fact that I’m still not used to restaurants with table service in New Zealand expecting you to go up to the register when you’re ready for your bill). She said that the major difference between now and a few years ago is that instead of tearing down damaged buildings, they are now putting new buildings up. Much more hopeful, but I am still aghast and saddened by all the destruction I see, especially in the areas where they have before and after photos, like Cathedral Square.

Gateway to the South Island

On Friday, I left the North Island via the ferry from Wellington to Picton. I’d heard great things about how beautiful the scenery is on this crossing as you head into the Queen Charlotte Sound, and was excited to find that it was a beautiful – if quite cold – day.

I went out to the observation deck, located at the rear of this particular ferry, to admire the view out the Wellington harbor.

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It was quite windy so I sought refuge inside in the lookout lounge, which faced forward and had floor to ceiling glass windows in the middle. I was lucky enough to get a seat in front of one of them, which made for a prime viewing spot (if not a prime photo spot due to reflections on the glass).

Wellington harbor seems to be protected by a couple of arms of land, so we headed towards one then turned to make our way out to the Cook Strait.

Across the Strait we could barely see the South Island, some snow capped peaks visible to our left. We turned right, however, and headed towards what looked like a solid shoreline.

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Somewhere in the middle of the crossing, the scone cart came around, with freshly baked scones. I could get used to that on my travels!

Once we got quite close, we could see there was a break in the cliffs, which let us enter the Sounds. It was gloriously beautiful!

Close to Picton, we saw a mammal in the water, most likely a seal.

I walked from the ferry to my B&B. I had been upgraded from the B&B I had originally booked to another property owned by the same people, as they were doing work on the first. The new property was beautiful – but since it was winter, I found, I was actually the only person in the entire building (including the owner not being there)! The owner had arranged to have a friend or colleague meet me and get me settled in. That lovely lady had even set up a fruit plate and pastry for me in case I was hungry.

Despite it being a little strange to be alone in the B&B, it was actually really restful and peaceful. Just what I needed after all the early mornings!

I took a country walk before it got dark. It’s a beautiful area, very hilly. (Not surprisingly, that’s a pretty common refrain in new Zealand!) The most breathtaking view, however, was straight out of the harbor into the Sound.