New Zealand – Christchurch

I recall nothing from our prior visit to Christchurch in June 2009, perhaps because we spent little (if any) time in the city itself and instead chose to drive around the pretty Akaroa peninsula to the southeast. So, on this visit, I was pleased to have some time to visit some of the sights in central Christchurch.

Of course, a lot has happened in Christchurch since our last visit. A massive 2011 earthquake destroyed many buildings and killed 185 people. What we saw today are the results of more than a decade of effort and investment in rebuilding and revising – modernizing the infrastructure, making it more resilient to future earthquakes, and revitalizing the city center. The results, though still in progress, are impressive.

I especially enjoyed our visit to the temporary Cardboard Cathedral, built out of cardboard tubes (like “sono tubes”, used for pouring cement pilings) and locally harvested wood. The architecture is impressive both for its beauty and its sustainability, and I have a feeling they’ll keep this structure even once a new cathedral is ready.

I also enjoyed the walking tour, led by a local man who celebrates both his Maori and his Scottish heritage, and who clearly has deep pride for Christchurch and its people.

Throughout the visit, though, I was thinking about my friend Pablo, who was visiting Christchurch with his family in 2011. Fortunately, they were on the outskirts of town when the quake struck, and were unscathed; unfortunately, everything but the clothes on their backs were in their hotel, downtown, which was heavily damaged and later demolished. His blog posts (start here) caused me to change the way I think about travel, and in particular, my laptop backups. As he noted in his blog post:

Sad: laptop with all photos is in hotel.
Glad: laptop is backed up.
Sad: backup disk is also in hotel.

Pablo was on his way home after spending the Antarctic summer living and working at the South Pole, and his computer stored months of wonderful photos he’d looked forward to sharing once he returned home. Both the primary and the backup copies were lost in the earthquake. (But: the story has a happy ending!) Christchurch has long been an air base for Antarctic operations, as highlighted in a series of posters on the main street downtown:

We also had the opportunity to visit the historic home of Kate Sheppard, who was the prime mover in New Zealand’s women’s suffrage movement – leading New Zealand to be the first democracy (worldwide) to have universal suffrage – and a fine lunch at the historic Riccarton House.

Please enjoy my photo gallery, including some of the cool public art.