NZ2024 - Leg 18 March 13 - Christchurch for the day

Today was a day in Christchurch, and while we had originally booked three full days here, thinking we had sooooo much to see and do, we wound up having to be pretty selective, as we moved one day to Kaikoura.  We'll be catching the Coastal Pacific train on Friday instead of Saturday so we can go whale watching.  So we grabbed some breakfast at Box Cafe, and drove into the city center to take the Tram hop-on hop-off tour for the day - and maybe the gondola ride.  There's a great deal through New Zealand Travel Tips for the Gondola and Tram package (and a lot of other packages too), and you can ride all day if you want.

We also had a friend living here that we planned to meet for lunch, so it seemed like a good plan to take the tram for one full tour - about 50 minutes - and pick out the places we wanted to photograph or go back and visit.  Then, we could have lunch with Ed, go for the gondola ride to the top of the city, and do the hop-on-hop-off tram again!  Perfect plan.

First we have to get the rental car.  In Christchurch, the downtown car rentals close at 5 pm, and the train dropped us here after 7:00, so we had decided to get a cab or Uber from the train station to the hotel for the first night, and get the car from the airport in the morning.  Well, the hotel we booked was not in a good area for this to happen - it was close to the train station, but not close enough to walk, which had been the original goal, and it was a 15-minute drive to the airport.  Fortunately, the hotel manager was kind enough to drive me to the airport so I didn't have to cab it - but he charged me almost as much as a cab....  Lesson learned, in Christchurch get a downtown hotel so there are shuttles from both the train station and the airport - and I could have more easily have gotten a downtown car rental this morning too...

It seems I'm learning a lot this trip - like I usually do.

Picked up the car, picked up Linda, picked up breakfast and off we went to find the Christchurch Tram.  The first stop - where you buy the tickets - we remembered as being in Cathedral Square, where there are a few stores, etc.  We purchased our tickets and walked around a bit, waiting for the next tram to hop on.  It was a grey, cloudy, cool day, with a bit of wind, perfect for this kind of activity.  We do the whole tour, and note the things we remember from the last time we were in Chch,

 and the things that are very different.  The architecture is still quite amazing, especially the new architecture, like the new Convention Centre, and the Library.  

Equally amazing is the work they are doing to restore the Cathedral that was almost destroyed during the earthquake in 2011.  There are construction barriers up, scaffolding and exterior structures holding up the walls that were for many years barely standing.

One of the coolest things about Christchurch is the amazing street art - huge murals that are really interesting and very well done.

  

We learned quite a bit about what the city has done with the buildings that were damaged or destroyed during the series of quakes that shook everything from Sep. 2010 to Dec. 2011, and that there are very few original buildings still standing.  There is parking available all over the city centre, because so many of the buildings that were destroyed were cleared, and these blocks became parking lots.  Although we were watching for it, the earthquake "White Chair" memorial was not part of the tour, and we learned later that it's because it has been dismantled.  How sad.

But the city has rebuilt so much, and become once again a vibrant and exciting city, full of life, and since all of the rebuilds were structured with the quakes in mind, ChCh is now probably the safest city in the southern hemisphere - at least safe from earthquakes.

After riding around all the way once, we stayed on for a couple of more stops to meet our friend at the Memorial Bridge, then walked over to the Riverside Market - a wonderful area of shops, bars, restaurants and cafes - for lunch.  Ed had chosen Kaiser Brew Garden, and ordered a set of small sharing plates for us.  We had a wonderful time - even though it was only an hour - catching up after not having had a chance to connect since we were here 7 years ago, eating fantastic food, planning a dinner together for later the same evening including Ed's wife Loretta.  

We parted company after many hugs and smiles, with the promise that we would meet for dinner - we couldn't wait to meet Loretta!

Considering that I had blown through two very large XQD cards with my camera, and did not want to delete anything just yet, I wanted to find some place to purchase another card.  I found Photo Warehouse, and they had exactly what I needed at an even better price that I would have paid at home - including the exchange rate.  Now I could photograph sooooo much more without worrying about not having enough data space!

We drove out to the Gondola ride so we could ride to the top of the city and look down.  I had no idea what to expect, this was something I had done in Queenstown back in 2010, and have done something similar in other cities.  I always thoroughly enjoy the view, and this was no exception.  The ride is quite steep - as they usually are - and we couldn't really see the building at the top very well - at least not from the bottom.  Actually not until we were about a third of the way to the top.  And once we were up there - what a view!  The best part was that there were a few sheep up on the hillside near the Gondola - and in fact the walking track that meandered around the area at the top was somewhat, well, you had to watch where you stepped.  

  

After several photographs from the outside, and some shopping at the gift store on the inside - and finding out that the Discovery ride - one of the things we were assured was a must-do - was out of order, we realized the time was getting late and we needed to go back down to "earth".  We still wanted to check out the "Harry Potter arts center".  This was an old college that was damaged in the quake, but they have turned a portion of it into little shops and art galleries, etc.  One part is still under reconstruction, one part is now a hotel (omg i want to stay there), and the whole complex looks so much like Hogwarts!

Everything was gorgeous, but the best part was the Great Hall, which was open for anyone to go inside and see - the vaulted ceilings, 3 storey high fireplace, stained glass windows, and it was now being used as a theater for live music etc.

  

  As we wandered about with our jaw dragging once again along the ground, we realized that we could easily have spent the entire day exploring this one set of buildings, photographing the many nooks and crannies and architectural features.  Once again, I'm looking forward to playing with the photos from the big camera when I get home.

We managed to get back on the tram in time to get back to where we parked - and get back to the hotel and freshen up for our dinner.  By this time, Ed had suggested we meet them at Tutto Bene, which sounded delicious.  And it was.  Fantastico!  And the company was wonderful - we all felt as though we had known each other for years, even though we had only just met Loretta, and we didn't want to leave!  We agreed to meet again the next evening for drinks, and back to the hotel we went, full tummies, and full hearts.

Tomorrow, the plan is to drive to Hanmer Springs.  And the weather is looking like it might be gorgeous.