Christchurch 2 years post-quake

Christchurch, New Zealand was rocked by an earthquake back in 2011, magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale, roughly 10 km (6 miles) from city center. (More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake )

I figured that since it's now 2 years later, that the city would be fairly rebuilt and the thought hadn't even entered my mind that there would be no night life, since the city was so vibrant when I last visited: http://www.whereisholden.com/2008/01/christchurch-itself.html

Turns out that the city is starting to rebuild, but that it's still a ways off.  We entered town on a Friday night, hoping to get dinner downtown and possibly go dancing at a club.  Almost no restaurants were open (6pm), and we found no late-night dance opportunities.

In the morning we went to the city center where a shopping mall made from shipping containers has been erected, and we were impressed with the quality of building, the number of people out and about (despite what my in-opportune-timed-photos suggest).

 

 
 
A model drinking a coffee in front of a fashion store (which happens to be made of shipping containers):



 

Food vendors made the shipping containers work as well; here’s the inside of a second story cafe (the ground floor was packed, but the upstairs empty!

 

And apparently busking is still a reasonably big deal there.  This guy was definitely wearing a straightjacket, riding a tall unicycle, and there was fire involved in his act.  :)

Christchurch itself

Just a quick note to say thanks to the generous AV folks who live in Christchurch (J & J W), for finding me and picking me up at the airport in Christchurch, putting me up for the night, feeding me, helping me plan fun adventures, and sending me on my way in the morning!

I spent about a day on my own in Christchurch, watching some street performers at the 2008 World Buskers Festival! See the video for more on that. Then spent the afternoon wandering around town, snacking, seeing the botanical gardens, art galleries, and the river Avon (they really think they're still in Britain).


Met up with another group of backpackers who were heading out of town in the morning for Queenstown, and after some deliberation regarding timing, traveling with complete strangers, and advice seeking from across the globe, decided to take the ride. More on that in the next post! Needless to say, that for the city of Chch itself, 1 day was plenty. I realize that there's tons of good hikes along the foothills and Banks peninsula. Maybe another day!

Oh, and they had a cool chess set in Cathedral square, too.