Christchurch – Our Last Days in New Zealand

On Tuesday 22 February 2011, Christchurch was badly damaged by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, which killed 185 people and injured several thousand. The earthquake epicentre was  just 10 kilometres south-east of Christchurch’s central business district, only a few months after a previous quake in September 2010 . This was just a few months after our previous visit to the city.

The earthquake brought down many buildings previously damaged in the September 2010 earthquake, especially older brick and mortar buildings. Many heritage buildings were heavily damaged, including the Provincial Council Chambers, Lyttelton’s Timeball Station, and both the Anglican Christchurch Cathedral and the Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Among the modern buildings damaged, and eventually demolished, was Christchurch’s tallest building, the Hotel Grand Chancellor. Over a quarter of the buildings in the central business district were demolished. Access to the CBD was banned for almost three years to allow for clearing and work to ensure people’s safety.

Revisiting this city left us with very mixed emotions. On one hand, some modern redevelopment along the Avon River has the city buzzing with cafes, bars, and outdoor eating areas. 

On the other hand, it is sad to see empty shells of buildings and vacant land awaiting reconstruction, now fourteen years after the earthquake. One of these buildings is the fifteen storey Rydges Hotel where we used to stay. Its interior was ruined by the earthquake, but there is hope that it can become a new five-star hotel. Its position close the city centre would support this,

Located in Cathedral Square, the Anglican Christchurch Cathedral was at the heart of the city. Built in 1904, the Cathedral suffered minor damage in the earthquakes of September and December 2010, but was devastated by the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Restoration of the Cathedral has been stopped due to lack of funding. The cost of restoration had blown out to $248 million, then revised down to $219m but still leaving a short fall of $85m. Sadly, it sits in its once proud square as just a shell.

A “Cardboard” Cathedral opened after the devastating earthquakes of 2011 damaged the old Cathedral. It was designed by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban and opened in August 2013. The church gets its nickname from the use of over 90 large cardboard tubes for its walls and roof. It was one of the first new buildings to be constructed after the quakes and has become an icon of the city. In the centre of the city, it is an extraordinary space. The walls are waves of cardboard drawing the eyes upwards and the roof is a thin translucent skin. It is one of very few buildings in the world made substantially of cardboard, and certainly the only Cathedral!

We met our friends, Scilla and Tony from Melbourne in Cathedral Square for a coffee and light lunch. They were coincidentally in New Zealand doing a tour by train. You really can’t go anywhere now without running into someone who has a connection to you!

We all strolled around the park near the Avon River in light drizzle but enjoying the gardens and the statues to Christchurch’s famous people. One of them was a statue of Scott of the Antarctic. He used NZ as a training base before his ill fated expedition to Antarctica. Interestingly, the statue was carved by his widow.

The gardens were a peaceful place to wander and talk to each other. The only interruption was noise of the old antique trams that rumbled along their way around a city loop.

On our last day, we had just enough time to drive down to the port at Lyttleton before heading to the airport. There were a number of vessels docked at the port – a cruiseliner, a bulk carrier, n NZ naval vessel and the RV Araon which is a large icebreaker operated by the Government of South Korea.

Our flight home was very interesting. Our seats were on the left side of the plane and the (mostly) cloudless day gave us some good views of the Southern Alps. Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain stood out clearly on the horizon

We flew into Melbourne from the south east and had a splendid view of the city and CBD before landing.