We spent our first day in the city of Christchurch walking around and getting acquainted with our surroundings. This is New Regent Street which was developed not too long ago as a type of outdoor mall complete with trams running through it.
Found this picture of New Regent Street in the “Quake Center”, a museum in downtown Christchurch. Not much activity on the mall this day.
Got to sit outside and see all the street action including a couple of musicians to entertain us. The sandwich is called a toastie. Like a grilled cheese of sorts. The iced coffee was just that but a few times I have ordered it a scoop of ice cream was added before blending it like a milkshake.
Instead of a walking tour of the city we opted for an all day tram pass. The conductor played the role of tour guide and filled us in on the local history and hot spots. The trams were very nicely renovated. Cool experience.
The city is doing a bang up job of reinventing itself after the earthquake in 2011 pretty much demolished the old city. Cool tram stops were located all throughout the central business district.
One tram stop left us at an indoor food court and shopping area. There was a large bar area for us to taste the local craft beer scene. Many of the area’s breweries came together to lease this entire space so once you get a beer you can wander freely throughout the building with it and leave your glass anywhere within the shopping center.
We found the locally brewed beer to be fairly good. We learned that an APA is an American Pale Ale. We figured we did not really need to sample that. The XPA is an extra pale ale and tasted somewhere between an APA and IPA. Great conversation with the guy tending bar who was part owner of the place. Lots of good recommendations for what to do on the south island. Also talked to a young couple from Tokyo, Japan for a while. He was a math major and she was in advertising. Just vacationing here in NZ for a few weeks.
Notice the guy with the backpack trying to gain some of the other folks hard earned cash. He did this not 10 feet from the signage on the right. Not sure whether to classify him as a beggar, a vagrant or a rough sleeper? What is a rough sleeper anyway?
One of the city’s most iconic cathedrals was heavily damaged 12 years ago in that devastating earthquake. So much work and red tape to get through before it can be reopened as a working church.
Click the above video to see the moment the quake hit the city back in 2011. Crazy!
Crazy amount of earth movement to cause these tracks to be so deformed.
Not only are the Kiwis adaptable to disasters like an earthquake but they seem to have a unique sense of humor regarding these things. When the plumbing/sewers were not up and working the city ran a kind of contest called “Show us Your Long Drop”. Homemade outhouses were made all over the city with the one with the longest “drop” winning the prize.
New Zealanders also have commemorated the event in a number of ways. Above find the wine called “The Day The Earth Moved Like Jelly”. The beer named “Aftershock” and a souvenir pair of “Aftersocks”.
As cyclists ourselves we are very aware of the dangers caused by rail tracks crossing a bike path. The diagram on the sign seems to be an accurate depiction of these dangers.
Not a half hour drive from the city is the Banks Peninsula. Alltrails came up with hundreds of cool looking hikes in the mountains and/or along the seashore.
This hike was at a place called “Taylor’s Mistake”. It is beautiful enough for folks to plan their weddings like this one getting ready to start. Hope the “mistake” in Taylor’s Mistake has nothing to do with the wedding?
As with many of the hikes in New Zealand, the trails are accessed by many right of ways through private property. New Zealanders have the expectation that if they want to walk the coast or along a river, they are allowed to do this. We did not see a single no trespassing sign during our 2 month visit.
This beautiful spot is situated right at the end of a dead end road. Beautiful spot for us to start our last hike of the trip.
Very appropriate for us to leave you with a final video of sheep being herded to market along the public roads. So cute!!