We walked in from the west of centre, approaching through Hagley Park and the botanic garden, where the roses were still hanging in, despite the approaching winter.
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| Winter blooms |
Unlike Dunedin and other towns to the south, Christchurch was settled by English and so many of the landmarks bear familiar names. The River Avon winds through the city with Cambridge Terrace on its north bank and Oxford Terrace on its south. On the Cambridge side can be found the green-and-white striped Antigua Boatsheds. Operating since 1882, they offer boats to hire or, more attractive after our walk, a cup of tea and a large slice of "hummingbird cake" (which seemed to contain walnuts and cherries). We enjoyed our treats in the sunshine and were soon joined by a nonchalant cat.
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| Lunch cat |
The park is also home to the Canterbury Museum, named after the region in which it sits. The contents of the museum was eclectic, starting with skeletons of the now extinct large flightless bird, the moa. Given the lack of four-legged animals for food, the meaty bird was hunted out of existence nearly five hundred years ago and all that remains of it are the bones and the brewery of the same name.
Alongside artefacts from pre-settlement Maori, there was a recreation of an old Chch street, an enormous collection of T-shirts, and a kitsch display of Kiwiana comprising a house whose walls were decorated over many years by its occupants in large, polished paua shells. Bizarre.
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| Kiwiana |
A small tramway loops the city centre, passing through charming New Regent Street and even going through the middle of a building. The extent of the network makes this suitable for sightseeing only. However, we decided to cover the town at our own speed on foot.
After yesterday's distressing first glimpse of the scarred Christchurch city centre, it was heartening to see that the natural beauty of the park had not been marred, while the museum and surrounding buildings seemed similarly undisturbed. Proceeding along Worcester boulevard, the sights were not comparable to yesterday's derelict streets, but as we ventured farther east, the damage that is not so easily repaired quickly became apparent.
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| Christchurch cathedral |
The cathedral, once at the heart of the city, sits disconsolate and empty behind metal fences while its fate is decided. The damage to the front portion is not indicative of its overall condition, but opinion is split over whether it should be demolished or rebuilt.
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| Cardboard cathedral |
Meanwhile, a Japanese architect has created a new 'cardboard' cathedral as an emergency building. Across the street, mirroring the seats laid out for the congregation inside the church, is an installation of empty white chairs representing the 183 people that died in the earthquake. I can imagine that these temporary structures will have a surprising longevity.
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| Empty seats |
Similarly 'temporary' is the Re:Start mall, created to house dispossessed shops in structures fashioned from shipping containers.
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| Re:start mall |
Looking through the shop windows, it would be hard to tell that these were anything other than normal premises. Here too, I can see that the charm of the containers will persist and become a symbolic landmark, housing boutique shops long after the original sites have been constructed.
By now, time had marched on - aching feet and empty bellies cried out for rest and sustenance, respectively. With many of the cafés closed for the evening at Re:start, we sought food at Pegasus Arms, on the Oxford side of the river, directly opposite our morning stop.
There, I was served with a soft veggie burger, while K had a flavoursome onion tart with blue cheese stuffed portobello mushrooms. A pint of Black Dog Chomp went down nicely with the very welcome food.
Saving our feet, we bussed back to the campsite to enjoy a few more beers over a card game in our friends' luxury van.
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