Christchurch, or Quakechurch as Sue so affectionately refers to it, is a very changed city. We were here to take in the views and admire one of New Zealand’s finest cities but it just so happens that two of the outstanding people we met in Africa last year are from this city.

We made our way to Spencerville, just outside Christchurch, after we left Kaikoura. We didn’t even see the city on the first day we were there, we got to our caravan park pretty late and decided to just chill. We met some lovely people here. Gavin and Jackie were the couple in the spot adjacent to ours. Despite the fact that they lived only 10 minutes away they were here on a holiday with their two children. Gavin and Jackie had been in Christchurch for a long time, it was really interesting hearing about their experiences with the earthquakes and how they’ve come to terms with what their city is now. They were really nice. We had trouble with our power supply (we didn’t have the right connector for the caravan park) so they let us charge our phone in their huge tent. Gavin even gave us prawns for dinner and bacon for breakfast. Great people, just another reason to love New Zealand.

It wasn’t until the next day though, the 11th, that we met with Sue. Since our phone was dead we needed to charge it before we could arrange a meeting time. We were really thankful we met Gavin and Jackie when we did.

We’d already met with a few friends from the trip in Africa, Jo was great and Frank and Helen couldn’t have been more welcoming, and after making it to New Zealand, it was brilliant to see Sue again.

She generously set aside the whole day to show us around the city. It was clear as we drove around that this was and still is a beautiful city but driving through streets where people’s favourite pubs and churches have come down is a sobering experience. It must be pretty grim for her.

Getting around wasn’t straightforward either. Because of the earthquake damage, authorities change permissible routes daily. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air. You don’t know which roads you’ll be able to drive on day to day. I was almost in disbelief when Sue told me that there have been 9,000 earthquakes here since September 2010. Granted most of them are small ones (there were actually a couple during the first night we spent at the Spencerville caravan park but I slept right through them. Jill tried waking me up to tell me about them but in my half asleep state I told her she was imagining things, she thought she dreamed it until the next day when she heard our neighbours talking about it), but during the biggies (Sept 2010, Feb 2011, June 2011 and Dec 2011) lives were lost and major damage was caused to the city. The oldest and most recognisable buildings have all been destroyed, this includes most of the city centre and the Christchurch cathedral, the city’s most famous landmark.

Liquefaction has destroyed the future prospects for huge swathes of the city and large sections have been marked as red zones meaning no one can ever live there again.

The earthquakes have become a part of everyday life for the residents of this city, they’re learning to live with the ramifications of what they mean but that doesn’t stop the anxiety they feel when the ground starts moving under their feet.

No matter how grim the news delivered is though, there is always positive that can be taken from it. The unlivable red zones will be turned into green areas and nature will be allowed to reclaim them. In a city that already has an abundance of green spaces, a huge number of them will be added. In 20 years Christchurch will be even more beautiful than it already is.

So, Sue was showing us around for the morning. She had to leave for a couple of hours in the afternoon (she had a dentist appointment) but that was fine, Jill and I checked out this cool new shopping centre in the middle of the city. All of the shops have been built out of brightly coloured shipping containers and arranged in a very stylish layout. It’s called Re:Start and there were loads of street performers and buskers around trying to raise people’s spirits. They didn’t have to try very hard. The people walking around seemed very happy. 

When I went for a wonder by myself (Jill seemed pretty happy exploring the shops by herself), I was very surprised to be asked for an interview by a TV reporter! I had noticed that people with a large camera were filming the area and was glancing over every now and then. I was standing in the local ‘i’ site so was instantly pegged as a tourist by anyone that saw me. I guess that’s what they were after though because before I knew it, I was shaking the reporter’s hand and he had a camera pointing at me! He was working on a piece about the current state of Christchurch and was asking general questions about what I thought of the city and whether I felt people should visit. I told him what I thought, my answers were probably exactly what he wanted to hear so it’s very likely I was on the evening news that night.

Shortly after I wandered back to Jill, Sue picked us up and continued our tour of the city. There are some very scenic drives here. Narrow, winding roads were the order of the day, much as they are in the rest of New Zealand. We stopped at a lovely beach for a walk but after that it was a couple of quick stops (one at Sue’s place so she could pick up her laptop and the other at a camera shop. I needed a replacement wrist strap because I’d lost mine during the dolphin swim the previous day) before we ended up at Matt’s restaurant for dinner.

The Lone Star is apparently an American chain but the food there was great and felt like it had a New Zealand spin to it. Since Matt was working tonight, Sue, Jill and I had drinks downstairs without Matt while we worked up an appetite. When we were ready we headed upstairs for some delicious food. Matt came out every now and then for a quick chat but he wasn’t done until 8. He’d been at work since 9 so his boss ‘generously’ let him leave early (he was supposed to finish at 11). Almost as soon as he came out we went downstairs for a few drinks. We’d been talking to Sue all day but it was great being able to catch up properly with the both of them there. We had a great night drinking together and ended up getting back to the caravan park late.