A New Christchurch
It’s not often a city can stake a claim on being the newest city
in the South Pacific. These days in Christchurch, cranes and wrecking balls are replaced with clean slates, new buildings and a raft of vibrant things to see, do and experience. The New York Times ranked Christchurch #2 on their Cities to Go list in 2014. I couldn’t agree more.
It’s the ideal stop for travellers who like to explore. Locals too. I decide to rediscover my city. To discover the new, incredible and local experiences that are gradually finding their way into guidebooks, the experiences that have emerged as a result of the earthquakes.
The best way to go about it? By pedal power.
I hire Ron Burgundy. To be precise, I hire a bike called Ron Burgundy from The Vintage Peddler (I should have worn my polyester suit!). Ron won’t win any races, but the bike is fun and a comfortable ride.
I point Ron toward the nearby suburb of Woolston and the Tannery. The Tannery embodies the idea of a new Christchurch built on the old. It’s a transformed tannery site on the Heathcote River and is a bastion of heritage architecture (reinforced brickwork, leadlight glass and hand-laid tiles) with a modern twist: boutiques, a deli, yoga studio, fabric shop, craft brewer and music venues. An intimate cinematheque is on the cards for March 2015 where visitors can step out of the Tannery’s Victorian arcade and into German Expressionist styled theatres.
I can’t stop at the Tannery without fueling up on the city’s best (I contend) woodfired pizza and pale ale. The Brewery has been doing pizza and cask-conditioned ale really well for a couple of years now. And live, local music too. Every weekend. The Brewery isn’t alone. Steadily and surely new live music venues and old favourites are opening or reopening their doors around the city.
Like the Astro Lounge. It’s a quirky space with a pétanque court out back. I’ve caught the Latin American strums of Christchurch guitar maestro Dr Sanchez. I’ve seen the rockabilly band The Eastern at the Wunderbar and every time I visit the Re:Start mall there’s an ever-rotating roster of buskers.
In the space of one afternoon at Re:Start I tap my toes to a jazz singer’s songs, sway with tap dancers’ rhythms and a fall under the spell of a street magician who weaves his magic over the crowd.
Buskers love Re:Start, as do locals and travellers. It’s a bustling, funky, colourful, cantilevered pop-up container precinct—one of the first in the world—with over sixty 40ft shipping containers that have been painted, insulated and transformed into cheerful fashion, food and gift shops.
Re:Start is symbolic of the spirit of the city—adaptability and sourcing creative solutions to tough challenges. And so is Gap Filler.
Gap Filler came at the hands of locals who stepped up to temporarily transform vacant sites (left by demolished buildings) with art, music, dance, poetry readings, a book exchange and even a pavilion made with volunteer labour and 3,000 painted shipping pallets.
Ron Burgundy and I roll on to Gloucester Street where a group of flamenco dancers take over the Dance-O-Mat. It’s a coin-operated, open-air dance floor and it’s one of many Gap Filler projects. Other gaps are filled with a city wide mini-golf course, a community bike shed/workshop and the Sound Garden which is across the street from the Dance-O-Mat.
As I strike, strum and make spontaneous music on the Sound Garden’s improvised instruments, I think about this new Christchurch. And I also think about the places I’ve loved since I was a kid, the places that always made Christchurch singular in my mind: walking tracks in the Port Hills; Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens; the uncrowded beaches. I want to rediscover these too but I don’t think Ron is up for that journey.
Tomorrow then. These days Christchurch is ever evolving and there will always be more to explore and discover tomorrow.
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