March 30: All Around Christchurch

We started the day with a wonderful breakfast in The George Hotel. The breakfast was reminiscent of a typical European breakfast: fresh meats and cheeses, various yogurts, pastries, fresh fruits, scrambled eggs, toasts, juices, café latte, and tea. After breakfast, we wandered out of the hotel, heading for the nearest stop of the Christchurch tour tram. Patrise had purchased the tickets the night before, and the concierge on duty, Matt, had shown us the nearest stop on the Christchurch central business district (CBD) map shown here:

We found the stop, and after crossing the street in the wrong location, then dashing to the correct location as the tram was pulling up, we boarded and began the tour of downtown Christchurch. We saw many sights of the old and new city. Cathedral Square was the location of many of the old buildings, as it is the place where much of the city began. It is also the location of the original church which gave the city its name. However, that church was one of the many buildings damaged by the major earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 – 2011 is the bigger quake that most of the world saw or read about in news reports. In fact, not only the church, but many of the city’s buildings were broken down, or they were so damaged as to be rendered useless and unsafe. The rebuilding has been slow and methodical, such that now, some 11-12 years after these events, only now are liability claims being settled between insurers and building owners. On the tour today, we were told of three or four major buildings or building sites that have recently received permits to be begin restoration or redevelopment. In the wake of the earthquakes, Christchurch’s building standards have been toughened. Now, new buildings must be built to withstand shocks equal to magnitude 8.3 on the Richter scale, and they cannot be built any higher than 28 meters (about 92 feet). Here are some pictures of sites of the Christchurch CBD, including some quake-damaged structures and holes in the ground where new buildings are set to arise:

(The River Avon)

(The River Avon)

(The River Avon)

After taking the one-hour tram tour, we disembarked from the tram at the Market Street stop. We went into a souvenir shop and purchased several delightful souvenir items for family and friends. Then next door, there was a New Zealand post office inside of a pharmacy. We had gone into the pharmacy looking for converter plugs (we did not have enough of them) and Splenda. The store did not sell either of these, but it did have a post office, and that proved more valuable and more timely than what we were originally seeking. We boxed up the souvenirs, paid the postage, then continued our walking sightseeing. At Patrise’s suggestion, we went to a wonderful tea shop to enjoy some fresh tea and we also had a cheese pastry with our tea. That proved just the trick, since it was still a bit early for lunch after our big breakfast.

(The Museum of Art)

(Bracing for quake-damaged building)

(Bracing for another quake-damaged building)

(Hole in the ground, where a severely quake-damaged building had to be taken down.)

(Public art at a tram stop.)

(Part of the CBD, with a new building going up in the background.)

(Mural dedicated to Antarctica. Many Antarctic expeditions are launched from Christchurch -- long considered the "gateway to Antarctica."

(Area of shops and restaurants.)

(Area of shops and restaurants.)

(Riverside Market)

(Riverside Market)

(Riverside Market, about to turn into our tea shop.)

Upon leaving the tea shop, we summoned an Uber – Lyft is not really an option here, I discovered – which took us to the International Antarctic Center. The IAC is a fantastic attraction and is visited by many people from around the world, in addition to many New Zealanders. In fact, Christchurch is often referred to as “the Gateway to Antarctica”, because so many Antarctic research expeditions launch from Christchurch. We were surprised to see that the United States is one of four countries who maintain Antarctic research facilities and personnel in Christchurch. Here are pictures of the U.S. presence.

The IAC was a wonderful experience, and I got to share with my wife some of the similarities and many of the differences of my excursion to Antarctica as compared with the IAC exhibits, movies, and equipment. We saw two videos about the general nature of the Antarctic continent. One of the videos was the 4D Antarctic experience. Using 3-D glasses, you sit in seats which will move suddenly and jerkily to simulate being rocked by the waves of the Drake Passage or on a ship being hit by growlers or small icebergs. The 4D experience also threw, sprayed, or dropped water on us, to simulate various events such as spray from an ocean wave, a penguin shaking water off its feathers, or other such things. We saw several exhibits about different aspects of Antarctica (geology, natural history, animal species, the nature of the Southern Ocean, the history of expeditions and famous explorers, and more); we took a behind the scenes tour of the little penguin (aka the blue) rehab facility. The blue penguin is the smallest of the 18 penguin species, while the emperor penguin is the largest: 1-2 kg [2.5 to 4 pounds] vs. 40kg [85 to 90 pounds]. We had an opportunity to ride in a Hagglund, a tractor-like machine, invented by the Norwegians, which is the most used and considered the best form of mobility in Antarctica. It can carry up to 16 passengers at speeds approaching 50-60 kph (kilometers per hour) or 30-35mph. It can travel in deep snow, up and down steep hills and over crevasses. The Hagglund tour at the IAC runs an obstacle course that simulates all these conditions and others. We were both tossed about inside the vehicle throughout this excursion.

The one exhibit we did not get to experience was the Antarctic storm simulator. You are locked into an enclosed space for about four minutes, where you experience simulated Antarctic winds which lower the room temperature from -8 degrees Celsius (18 degrees F) to -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees F). Every time we went to it, it was already occupied and there was a 25-minute wait between simulations. Even when we tried to time our return, we would just miss the start of a new session.

(A full set of IAC pictures will be added later, after they are downloaded from the main camera.)

After the fourth miss, we decided to call it a day. We took an Uber back to The George. We ordered a small lunch to share, and we washed clothes as we watched a bit of television. Later in the evening, we ordered Thai food (delivery) for dinner and consumed a delicious meal, while updating the blog and watching the movie “Death on the Nile.”

Tomorrow will be our 10-hour day from Christchurch to the Mt. Cook National Park/Tasman Glacier region. It will be a long day, but we will get the famous natural beauty of the New Zealand countryside. It will also be a great way to celebrate Doug’s birthday!