Wandering the Christchurch CBD and the Tram Dinner

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The cloud that had started to roll over the hills on Banks Peninsula yesterday were forecast to spread over the city overnight and the prediction was correct.However,the cloud is also forecast to clear as the day wears on and afternoon should be sunny with 20C.

So we took a dollar each way and dressed our top for summer and bottom for autumn and hoped for the best that we wouldn’t get too warm if the sun came out as predicted or too cool if the cloud cover remained all day.

It was another free ride into the city and we alighted the #28 at the modern, clean and well organised bus interchange. Tauranga city could learn a lot from Christchurch as the Tauranga bus interchange is quite frankly a disgrace with undesirable people loitering requiring at least 2 permanent security guards to try and keep the peace despite the Police Station just 150 metres up the road.

I have worked steadily on Gretchen over the past 2 days reminding her that the CBD is contained within 4 avenues in a basic oblong and that the Port Hills are in the south.

With all this in mind and the CBD map we got when we checked into our accommodation, up the right way Gretchen navigated us walking successfully to Quake City on Armagh Street to take in the exhibits recalling the 2 major earthquakes that struck the city in September 2010 and another in February 2011.The latter being the one that caused the most damage and 185 deaths because it was very shallow and very close to the city.

The exhibition is very well done without giving you too much written information to read but rather telling the story in pictures, interviews with survivors and video.

One of the more dramatic pieces of video was a security camera that captured the actual moment of the February quake as people walked along a footpath, cycled or drove a car on a street in the CDB and then suddenly being unable to stand as the ground shook and a brick building outer wall fell in a cloud of dust.

It was easy to pass an hour and a half at the exhibition and we emerged back on the street hoping that perhaps the sun might have appeared and the cloud burned off. No such luck and as midday approached we reckoned that the air temperature was struggling to get above 15C, a rarity for us since summer arrived in early December.

We found our way down to the Riverside Market on Oxford Street and wandered around the multitude of eateries offering everything from Indian curries to delicious sweet treats.

We were happy with our usual coffees and pastries that Gretchen located and we hoped these would keep us going until our dinner on the city tram tonight came around.

With the Earthquake Memorial Wall a short walk away next to the Avon River we took a stroll past the 185 names on the wall of the people who died in February 2011.The only thing we didn’t like as we silently contemplated what that awful day must have like for Cantabrians, was the incessant noise of a jack hammer on a building under renovation adjacent to the memorial wall.

Next was a walk along Cashel Street with visits inside a few shops to try and find a jersey for me in case the cooler weather continues and a scarf for Gretchen. Neither we found before our wandering took us to the ‘Cardboard Cathedral ‘built partly from long tubes of rolled cardboard sourced in Malaysia by the Japanese designer.

Like all churches the atmosphere inside was peaceful but we are please that recently and after much debate the Christchurch Cathedral severely damaged in the February quake is at last being rebuilt although from what we saw the job to restore it, is major.

There are still many sites around the CBD that are still to have new buildings constructed.Some of those sites are car parks but many are wastelands and this detracts a bit from the vibrancy of the rebuilt areas of the CBD.Perhaps some of the CBD will not be rebuilt given that COVID has resulted in many workers able to work from home rather than a downtown office.Who knows what changes we might see when we next return to the city?

As if to prove my explanation of the 4 avenues and their layout we headed for Moorhouse Avenue in the south of the CDB in search of a Farmers store and see if they had a jersey for me and a scarf for Gretchen.

No such luck as the store didn’t have clothing in the wares it sold and I decided I would just have to get by with my fleecy top.However; Gretchen had success at a Warehouse store as we headed back towards the bus interchange to take the #28 back to our apartment.

Back at our apartment it was time for a rest to ready ourselves for tonight’s dinner on the Christchurch Dinner Tram and 6pm came around quick enough for us to head out again.

We got the short bus ride back to the Tram Cathedral Stop on the Goldcard again even though free rides weren’t supposed to kick in again until 6.30pm.Christchurch bus drivers have been very courteous and helpful and are a great asset to getting tourism back up and running in this beautiful and easy to get around city.

We joined a dozen other patrons on the smartly blue painted tram which does only the daily dinner trip between 7pm and 9pm making 2 ½ circuits of the tram route while canapés and a welcome wine plus 3 courses are served.

We chose the paired wines to go with each course and the whole experience was quite unique and very enjoyable.

We both enjoyed the smoked chicken crunchita salad entrée with Ant Moore Chardonnay from Marlborough and then moved onto Canterbury Venison Rump teamed up with Babich Black Label Syrah from Hawkes Bay for me and for Gretchen Provencal Encrusted Lamb Loin with Muddy Water Deliverance Pinot Noir from nearby Waipara. And we finished up with Chocolate Lover and a glass of Lustau Pedro Ximenez Sherry for me and the Cheeseboard sample with a glass of Torlesse Port.

As the evening progressed and the alcohol kept changing we started to lose track of how come the shops or park etc that we had ‘seen from the right hand side of the tram ‘seemingly was now on the left hand side. After a while we gave up trying to work this out and during fits of quiet laughter we decided that the tram driver knew where he was going and we would leave it all over to him.

At the end of the trip back at the pickup point we alighted the tram and attempted(I say attempted because we didn’t succeed)to dial up an Uber.And while trying to do so a saviour in the form of a #28 bus, our bus to Bealey Avenue, suddenly appeared and we were on it and away home with another free Goldcard ride.

Needless to say we fell into bed and sleep came very swiftly.

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