New Zealand: Christchurch Reinvents Itself

"A Gift from the Night" by a graffiti artist who goes
by the name Aerosol. It was part of Shift, an urban
art show at the Canterbury Museum in which street
artists decorated the interior of the large and empty
building before it closed for a five-year renovation. 

Our last stop after three or so weeks driving around New Zealand's South Island was Christchurch.  Following three nights here, we flew to Auckland for one night and then home to San Diego. 

If you know nothing else about Christchurch, you may remember the earthquake in 2010 that destroyed much of the city, including its iconic Anglican cathedral. The quake killed 185 people and destroyed 80 pcercent of the city center.  Whole blocks downtown are still vacant, with unstable buildings demolished and replacements yet to be built, but many replacement buildings have been completed, including a several-block development that houses some of the city's best restaurants. A new cathedral is taking form, but the celebrated transitional "cardboard cathedral" is still in place.  The city has used the opportunity created by the earthquake to reinvent its downtown as more walkable and more modern.

Christchurch's history also includes at least two horrific crimes: the 1954 murder of Honorah Parker and the mass murder of Muslims in 2019.  Parker was bludgeoned to death by her teenage daugher, Pauline, and Pauline's best friend, Juliet Hulme.  Their story was told in Peter Jackson's 1994 film "Heavenly Creatures."  Juliet eventually became the acclaimed mystery writer Anne Perry, who died in April 2023 at 84. 

In 2020, a white supremecist was sentenced to life without parole for killing 51 people and injuring another 40 in attacks the year before at a mosque and at an Islamic center. His use of a semi-automatic weapon prompted New Zealand to do something the United States seems incapable of. It banned the weapons and bought back the now-illegal weapons that people already owned. 

Ugliness from the past, even the recent past, seems far away on the green banks of the Avon River that courses through the central city. One side is called Cambridge Terrace and the other side is Oxford Terrace. The town's affinity for England also shows up in its buildings, many of which resemble Gothic Revival buildings from 19th century Britain. On some blocks, such as the former location of the University of Canterbury, a period movie could be shot just by getting rid of the parked cars. 

It took us almost five hours to drive up from Dunedin. After we checked in at our hotel, the Observatory, we dropped off our car at the airport, took a cab back and spent the rest of our time here on foot. The Observatory, part of which is built within an old Gothic Revival observatory, is in a stone complex that once was the Universty of Canterbury. There are also a wine restaurant, an arts center and a movie theater. Just across the street is the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, which is well worth the several hours required to appreciate it. 

Go in the other direction, across the Avon River, and on Oxford Terrace you'll find a respectable restaurant row.  It's also the edge of the shopping district that includes a large Ballantynes department store as well as loads of boutiques and gift shops. Another shopping district, called SALT, is funkier and requires a several-block walk that passes rubble left from the earthquake as well as buildings under construction. I'm willing to bet the new buildings will be among the most quake-resistant buildings in the world. 

We spent part of our two full days here exploring the Canterbury Museum, which I think was a traditional museum celebrating local history. I say was because all of its exhibits have been removed in preparation for a thorough renovation (including quake-resistant bracing) and expansion. But before the work begins, the museum invited graffiti artists to decorate the walls and to fill empty spaces with temporary installations in "an urban art takeover" called Shift.  We were there March 14, 2023, and Shift was to close April 22 as the museum began five years of work on the building. 

We had two dinners at King of Snake, a very popular Asian place in the new restaurant/retail complex on Oxford Terrace. The first time was a Sunday and, with no reservation, we felt lucky to get seats at the bar. We made a reservation for Tuesday (our last night in Christchurch). That Monday we had dinner in the same former university complex as our hotel, at Cellar Door, a wine bar with a full dinner menu. We had a nice outdoor lunch at the Curator's House Restaurant in the Botanic Gardens. 

Here are some photos:

The entrance to the Obseevatory Hotel is not on the street but on 
what once was a courtyard at the University of Canterbury.

The former University of Canterbury complex has several courtyards. It's a bit hard to see,
but what looks like a black ink drawing at the top is actually a wire sculpture that
looks like an upside-down house. (Click on the image to make it larger.) 

The Christchurch Art Gallery exhibits a range 
of contemporary works. The Canterbury Museum 
plans pop-up exhibits here while its own 
building is under renovation.

The Art Gallery is larger than expected
on the inside. The light fixture is made
of chairs pierced by fluorescent light tubes.

"Bring Your Feet Across the Sky," a 2021 oil-on-board painting by the New Zealand
artist Barbara Tuck, was part of a large exhibition of her work,

A tram takes visitors on narrated  tours of central Christchurch.

Inside the tram.

What may be a Stargate portal is at the
intersection of Madras Street and 
St. Asaph Street in the SALT district.

The Anglican cathedral in Christchurch is being
carefully rebuilt in all its Gothic Revival glory.

The "cardboard cathedral" is the Anglican church's stopgap until
its earthquake-destroyed cathedral can be rebuilt and reopened,

Cardboard tubes support the roof of the 
transitional cathedral.

The city tram is about the only vehicle that fits on 
narrow New Regent Street, which is lined with 
 restaurants, This was taken in the middle of a 
Tuesday afternoon when the street was pretty dead.

The Curator's House Restaurant is on the
edge of the Botanic Gardens.

Visitors can turn on and off the water that powers a spinning wheel of masks
in "Regret," a fountain with bronze figures by Sam Mahon, a New Zealand
artist whose works often comment on water pollution.

Most botanic gardens have a rose garden with dozens of varieties. The Christchurch
Botanic Gardens has those roses, but it also has amazing varieties of dahlias. 

A sculpture suggests a stairway to infinity.

The wind is credited with twisting this gum tree as it grew.

Floors were painted by street artists who were
invited to do pretty much whatever they wanted in 
the empty Canterbury Museum building. The
exhibition, which ended in April 2023 when
work began on renovating the buiding, 
was called Shift.

Some installations looked portable enough to be
removed intact and reinstalled somewhere else.

Some works took over all the surfaces in the museum's large exhibition spaces.

There was a lot of social commentary in the works at Shift, including this one by
an artist known as Component.  The idea, according to the artist, is that 
"war is the opposite of fun" but children too often have to deal with war,

Our dinner at the Cellar Door near our hotel began with flights of regional wines.

The bar at King of Snake.

Punting on the Avon.  Rowboats are rented for those who want to propel
themselves, but they weren't available the afternoon we wanted one.