I arrived quite late that evening in Christchurch (well... around 22:00 or so...) and the city was pretty desert. It felt like I was walking in an empty industrial area at night to reach my hotel which was close to the central bus station.
If I had to use one word to describe the city of Christchurch, it would certainly be "Unexpected" - and I was not really sure what to expect before landing there actually !
Most of New Zealand sits between the Indo-Australian and the Pacific tectonic plates (where there are tall, sharp mountains, there is usually a reason behind this !) and for the ones who may not know this, the region of Christchurch suffered pretty badly in February 2011, February 2016 and November 2016 from pretty big earthquakes and you can still observe several years later the aftermath of those quakes, with some parts of the city still fenced off, due to compromised buildings, which clearly contrasts with the brand new buildings popping up right next to those. Add this a lot of street art at every street corner and it gives an interesting feeling to the place.
I stayed 2 nights in total in Christchurch, which gave me one full day to visit the city as I was heading to cross the South Island "Alps" the next day by train.
I spent most of my time walking in the city as most of the places of interest were within walking distance (My google fit history says that I walked about 30000 steps that day. I remember sleeping well for sure !)
The morning walk was focused in sightseeing around the central area of the city. The weather was just perfect.




New vs. Old








You can play Space Raiders in the street





















Christchurch temporary cathedral

Inside the temporary cathedral



Some empty lots have been converted into skate parks and playgrounds




























Christ's college


Canterbury museum entrance





After booking some excursions in the milford and doubtful sound for later in the week using the i-site of Christchurch, I had a Japanese lunch in a small restaurant next to it and headed inside the Christchurch art gallery to cool down a bit...



Christchurch Art Gallery









From classical...

... to more contemporary art !











I have to confess that I did not really understood everything in that section of the museum !

I then continued my walk towards Catherdal square, where signs of the earthquake(s) were still very visible...


It's like if the time suddenly stopped that day...


The former Cathedral







But a new CBD was build right across the street... The contrast was sharp between both places !



The new central business district of the Christchurch


it was free cone day !

I did not queue for a free ice cream (I am not THAT cheap - and also did not have the time... :-D)



The small Avon river, which goes along the city gave a bit of a fresh feeling that day...



Bridge of remembrance


The Avon river







Christchurch i-site

I enjoyed the rest of this lovely afternoon in the Botanic gardens, after stopping one more time at the i-site on the way. This is where I met Hercules, another solo traveller, from the region of Cape Town in South Africa who was backpacking across NZ. After talking a bit while walking in the gardens, we discovered that we were both taking the same tranzalpine train the next morning to get to Greymouth...



View on the Canterbury museum from the gardens





The NZ world peace bell







After enjoying a pizza downtown and a couple beers, Hercules and I both called it a day and I was back at my hotel after a short stop at the local supermarket to pack a few supplies for the next part of the trip...



Very interesting place which was Christchurch. Looking back at the pictures more than one year later, it felt I was visiting a small part of England somewhere in the California Silicon Valley. The devastation of the several past earthquakes are still clearly visible and this gives a one of kind feeling to the place.
I wish I would have had more time to visit around the city, like the Banks Peninsula, located about 75 km away from the city, where I discovered during that trip that the French attempted to colonize back in the 19th century.

Coming next : The train journey across the New-Zealand Alps, and the road trip between Greymouth to Queenstown.