Downtown Christchurch is busy all the time. I am amazed that so many stores and restaurants can survive in a city of this size. They all seem to be doing quite well. The city also feels very cosmopolitan. A lot of people from China and Japan make their way to Christchurch for some relaxation. A few europeans here and there, and quite a few of us who will travel to the ice and back. Remember that McMurdo Station has 1000 people during the summer, and they are not always the same people as research projects bagging and end. So a lot of McMurdians pass by Christchurch.
Farmers market in downtown Christchurch
Downtown Christchurch with infinite small stores and lots of restaurants
I wonder if they have so many small stores because they do not have monstrous box stores like in the states... One day I needed to get some supplies. Where else would you find them but at the chemist…
As a science teacher I love that they have stores called Chemists all over town.
I have had great food in all sorts of restaurants. I would not say there is much traditional New Zealand food, but they do know how to prepare food from all over the world.
Downtown is vibrant, even as it tries to recover from the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit Christchurch on September 4, 2010. There are a lot of damaged buildings but they are working hard to recover the recoverable. The non-recoverable are gone.
Recovery from the September 4, 2010 earthquake six months after
Sadly for New Zealand, the tectonic activity that gave birth to the islands and doted them with diversity and beauty will keep producing earthquakes. Look at the fault map below and see that New Zealand lies on a tectonic fault.
You can see on this tectonic map that New Zealand lies along a fault.
Around the main part of downtown are real trams. These vehicles do provide a particular identity to the this part of the town. I have seen cities that want to bring back the trams and build them in the old style; these are authentic! Check them out here.
Tram around the cathedral.
Tram on the city streets.
And perhaps the most unique, the one that only comes at night: the restaurant tram...
The restaurant tram appears at dusk and goes around town while his guests enjoy a nice dinner and a moving view.
The Cathedral square during the summer, at least, is the stage for entertainers and open markets. Other people enjoy a very large game of chess
A small game of chess anyone?
A few blocks from the main Cathedral square you can stroll around the gorgeous botanical garden. Even if you do not like to contemplate different plants and trees, it is a wonderful place to visit. The gardens are full of color in the summer. There is an unpretentious river that snakes around the park and into the city. The Avon River, known to the Maori as Te Kai o te Karoro, takes the water from different springs towards the mountains down to an estuary on the coast. I say unpretentious because it does not seem very big, but the water actually runs fast. You can see here that people enjoy kayaking on the river, and even more important, an activity called Punting. Here is a description of punting from the punters: ''Sink back into the velvet cushions of your boat as the Edwardian punter gently glides you down the Avon River, through the beautiful historic inner city of Christchurch.''
Kayaking along the Avon river
Next to the gardens there is another Gothic building, the Canterbury Museum. It hosts diverse exhibits around the history of the region with lots of artifacts. Entrance is free.
And not far from Christchurch there are places to do all sorts of activities. Besides the traditional going to the beach and downhill skiing, people can bungy jump, skydive, go on hot air balloons, paraglide, go rafting and more. I had no time for any of these, so I took a bus to the bottom of a gondola to explore the tops of some not too high mountains. I went with Ben, another member of the expedition. The gondola took us to the top of a mountain from where we went hiking (tramping, in New Zealand). Wonderful views from up there!!
Gondola t the top of some mountains with spectacular view
Enjoying the view on top of the mountain, overlooking the Lyttelton/Whakaraupo Harbor.
Panorama from the mountains showing Christchurch and the shoreline. Ben, one of the members of the scientific team, can also be seen.
Ben at top of the mountain.
A smaller panorama showing the city and the shoreline
A zoomed in image of Christchurch from the mountian.
You can also access a diversity of natural landscapes that include the spectacular scenery seen in the Lord of the Rings movies. There are the Southern Alps, larger than the French, Austrian and Swiss Alps combined, fjords, glaciers, lakes and grassy plains. Other parts of the islands also add volcanic regions with thermal waters, geysers and fuming pools as well as rain forests.