Wednesday, 23rd November 2022

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We woke up to a lovely morning in Christchurch, had a chilled breakfast in the motel and then headed towards the town centre. We took the scenic route through Hagley Park, the biggest park in Christchurch with the Avon river running through it. At the far end we came out by the old buildings of Christchurch College. Luckily the amazing Tram system runs right past the college, we bought our day passes and hopped on.

We stayed on the tram into town, past the Cathedral and got off by Quake City, a museum to the Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Seeing the cathedral was a true reminder of how devastating the Quake of February 2011 really was. Listening to the tour guides on the Tram and looking around museum showed us how truly terrible the time was, virtually every building in the city was damaged, mostly beyond repair. It is amazing that how the city has been reborn, although a lot of the buildings look like they survived there has been a big push to save at least the historic facades even if the body of the buildings is all new. There are plenty of gravel parking lots in the city, all of which were once buildings.

After the museum we hopped back on the Tram, took a bit of a tour and then got off at Waterside market, so many places to eat but it was close to lunch time and extremely busy. We went outside and looked at the WWll Bridge of Remembrance before we walked along to the Memorial Wall, dedicated to those that lost their lives in the Quake, the worst of which was actually an aftershock.

We were looking for a roof top bar that we heard about on the tram, as we couldn’t find it we jump back on the tram until it came round to the bar once more, only to discover we had been within two buildings of it! Went to the roof top and had a lovely lunch and a beer before heading back down to catch the tram back to Hagley Park. The wind had picked up quite a lot but it was still a nice walk back through the park to the Motel.

We chilled at the motel for a while and are now looking forward to packing everything away ready for a very early start as we fly out at 6am tomorrow.

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Photos

1. The Avon River
The Avon Rover running through Hagley Park

2. The College Clocktower
The College Clocktower rebuilt after the Quake

3. Christchurch College
The entrance to Chrstchurch College

4. Inside Tram
Inside one of the 7 restored trams in use

5. The 152 City Tour Tram
The open sided 152 City Tour Tram

6. Bridge of Remembrance
The Bridge of Remembrance dedicated to those that lost their lives in WWII

7. Waterside Market
Inside the Waterside Market, lots of food and drink stalls

8. Quake Remembrance Wall
The wall of remembrance, dedicated to those that lost their lives during the 2011 Quake

9. Rooftop Bar
The view from Mr Brightside roof bar

10. The Cathedral
The amount of damage to the cathedral is incredible, full restoration wirks are underway

11. Public Trust and Roof Top Bar
The Public Trust Building, housing the Brightside Roof Bar

12. The Millenium Cone
The cone, erected to celebrate the MIllenium

13. Tram Stop on Avon Bridge
One of the tram stops on the Avon Bridge