Thanks to my lift I was dropped off directly at the hostel. When I told him the name he wanted to see if it was the same hostel he once stayed in and when he saw the neighbourhood he remembered it and told me it's a nice place ;-)
A German girl who was just returning helped me get inside with all my luggage (you had to buzz the door or use a code to get inside). I met her later again for a little stroll through Christchurch. She showed me some sites (like the main cathedral, which is still pretty much destroyed from the earthquake 2011/2012).
Back then there were 2 big earthquakes, which devastated a big parts of the city. Now many people live more outside and the central part of the city is really open and empty. Most old spots of the buildings are now car parks and just not really pretty (instead of making them green areas or whatever...)
Max (the guy who brought me to Christchurch) told me everyone has a story about his night, when the earthquake struck. His was, that he couldn't sleep and wanted to grab a smoke, but because he was out he walked to an 7/11 and was on the street when the streets and land started shaking. The store was destroyed and his appartment as well. So he said you could think smoking saved his life, but he pointed it more to his sleeplessness.
After that earthquake in the end of 2011 many afterquakes happened, so many people got used to them. Later someone said, that sometimes he and his brother would watch TV, when the earth started shaking no one moved, when it stopped, they were still sitting on the couch and watching TV. It bothered no one... That wasn't too good, cause then in 2012 another major earthquake took place, closer to the earths surface and in daytime, so when one of the office buildings collapsed, it was full of people and many more died in that earthquake than the "stronger" one in 2011.
A German girl who was just returning helped me get inside with all my luggage (you had to buzz the door or use a code to get inside). I met her later again for a little stroll through Christchurch. She showed me some sites (like the main cathedral, which is still pretty much destroyed from the earthquake 2011/2012).
Back then there were 2 big earthquakes, which devastated a big parts of the city. Now many people live more outside and the central part of the city is really open and empty. Most old spots of the buildings are now car parks and just not really pretty (instead of making them green areas or whatever...)
Max (the guy who brought me to Christchurch) told me everyone has a story about his night, when the earthquake struck. His was, that he couldn't sleep and wanted to grab a smoke, but because he was out he walked to an 7/11 and was on the street when the streets and land started shaking. The store was destroyed and his appartment as well. So he said you could think smoking saved his life, but he pointed it more to his sleeplessness.
After that earthquake in the end of 2011 many afterquakes happened, so many people got used to them. Later someone said, that sometimes he and his brother would watch TV, when the earth started shaking no one moved, when it stopped, they were still sitting on the couch and watching TV. It bothered no one... That wasn't too good, cause then in 2012 another major earthquake took place, closer to the earths surface and in daytime, so when one of the office buildings collapsed, it was full of people and many more died in that earthquake than the "stronger" one in 2011.
So anyway, you can still see, that the city has to recover. Many constructions sites , some buildings still in ruins, some just being torn down. And containers. Containers were for many people a popular way to "build" something quickly, such as shopping places, living spaces and even a church. Similar to what I have seen in Hamburg, where some classrooms are entirely made out of containers and many living places for refugees were also built out of containers.
One of the pieces of art on the walls, of course making a parking area more attractive...
The next day I did some shopping and walked around Christchurch some more, visited the botanical garden and later actually met up with Sönke to see "Star Wars Rogue One", the newest movie about a Galaxy far far away. Sönke and Ronja had a tattoo appointment the next day, so he was excited and couldn't stay for long, so he left and I once again said bye untill Christmas.
Some green thingy in the botanical garden
"O sole mio!" - a little fun boat ride on a canal through the botanical garden
The next morning I headed out to do a free tour of Christchurch (recommended by Sönke). These are nice and cheap possibilities for travelers to explore a city, they offer the tours in different cities, though I imagine there are by now several different companies doing them. By now I also did one in Sydney (Australia, Melbourne also has a free tour), but there is also one in Wellington and Auckland. You could of course not pay anything, but the tourguide isn't paid, so they are dependent on the tips of the people attending. So many give generously. Which made me think about maybe starting a similar business in Hamburg, if there isn't one already. The guy was friendly and told us alot of things and of course showed us around Christchurch, with its container shopping mall, container church and the different buildings which were bought for only 1$, because of the severe earthquake damage. Some smart investor buys it and tries to renovate it or tear it down to build a new building. But none of them are finished yet, if I remember correctly...
Many of the open walls (which were once covered by the neiboghring building) are now artwork, many street artists have painted, drawn or whatever on the walls. That is in fact cool. Just walking around and suddenly seeing a big painted elephant, on another wall a woman with feathered hair and so on.
At the end of the tour the guy started talking about the future of Christchurch and got a little dramatic. It sounded almost as if he was comparing the city to a phoenix: "Like a phoenix, it shall rise out of it's ashes and come to new glory! It will be a cultural hub for everyone, great art and more beautiful than any other in New Zealand!" That was a good ending, I had a feeling others were indifferent about his passion. I don't know. But it was worth it, if you ever go to Christchurch I can recommend it (I don't know if there are tour guides who aren't as passionate/ good as he is).
Many of the open walls (which were once covered by the neiboghring building) are now artwork, many street artists have painted, drawn or whatever on the walls. That is in fact cool. Just walking around and suddenly seeing a big painted elephant, on another wall a woman with feathered hair and so on.
At the end of the tour the guy started talking about the future of Christchurch and got a little dramatic. It sounded almost as if he was comparing the city to a phoenix: "Like a phoenix, it shall rise out of it's ashes and come to new glory! It will be a cultural hub for everyone, great art and more beautiful than any other in New Zealand!" That was a good ending, I had a feeling others were indifferent about his passion. I don't know. But it was worth it, if you ever go to Christchurch I can recommend it (I don't know if there are tour guides who aren't as passionate/ good as he is).
This building still has the old fassade! On the rest of the building is gone, so rebuilt by containers!
The new modern church in the central district of Chch!
The entrance and side of the building is made of containers, the roof built out of special tubes, so it is light and pretty much earthquake safe
The glas of the front window is made out of old church windows, which were destroyed in the earthquake
xxx empty white chars, each representing a person, that died in the earthquake, to the left is a small info board and on the back a list of everyone, who died there
The old cathedral, they are still discussing, if they will tear it down or just repair it
The church wants to replace with a new building, but the community and some others want to repair it
Many cranes, building sites and some new buildings, you see this alot in Christchurch
Another piece of art
Actually some of the oldest buildings, which survived the earthquake and are in the middle of Christchurch!
On the tour were all sorts of people, seniors from Australia, students from Australia and from the USA, backpackers from european countries and of course germans. One of them I hung around with later and had some lunch. Back in the hostel I got a free sleeping bag (2 asian guys had left in the middle of the night with 10.000 alarms) and left different things in the room, saying good bye, cause they're leaving back to their home country. I didn't get which one, they just said home and otherwise didn't speak alot of english (or didn't chose to). Then new people moved into my room. We talked and 2 of them were german students, who were studying abroad in Auckland and travelling aroung the south island for the summer break. They got a good tent, sleeping bag and mattresses almost for free from other people, who were also leaving back home. Apparently many people leave New Zealand from Christchurch.
In the night again at almost the same time as the night before again an alarm went off. It was the new asian guy in my room, who jumped off his bed and took his packed suitcase etc. to leave without a word. Weird thing was, that he came back at about 7am. We were wondering if he missed his flight or something... But we didn't want to wake him. Anyway he was back and I had to leave. Well wanted to. I had looked online for a good spot to hitch a hike to the south (before christmas all buses are expensive or booked out...). I took a bus all the way to the edge of the city and waited. It slowly started drizzling when a car stopped and took me to Ashburton, about an hour south of Chch. It was Arnheim, a half dutch half australian guy, who offered me to call him in case I didn't get a ride to Dunedin that day. He dropped me off at a busy road towards the south in Ashburton where I again dropped my bags and got ready for a long wait. Luckily it had stopped raining, though it still was really cloudy and didn't look too nice.
I only waited about 15 minutes when another car stopped. In the back a mountain bike, so just one seat left for me. David was his name, he works in Blenheim and is a biologist, interested in small birds and is a very active guy, doing many outdoor activities. He of course was on the way to his family for christmas, they live just a little west of Dunedin and he knows Dunedin well, because he lived and studied there. On the way he showed me a little around Oamaru. Well he just drove around and told me there was a great steampunk museum. I was interested, though of course didn't want to make him stop for me and had no clue if I could or wanted to spend a night here.
We drove on and finally arrived in Dunedin. Here again he showed me a few things, such as the steepest road in the world. Well the steepest residency road of the world (though I remember some very steep roads in Italy!). Anyway he drove up there! It was crazy! That road is really freacking steep! I felt like in a rollercoaster driving up, ready to rush down! But n the top there's not much to do/ see. Houses to the left and right, just a little view. But a few nice things saying it's the steepest residency road in the world. The street was big enough for him to turn around and drive back down again, slowly of course. He said in the past people actually died doing stupid things like jumping in garbage cans and rolling down the hill...
Another thing he told me was, that the cycle lanes in Dunedin are broad because once a famous professor was run over by a car, while riding his bike. That's why they made the cycle lanes broader, so this won't happen again (I guess). You could still see the old marks, which were nearly half as wide as the new ones!
He then dropped me off at the hostel, because it was basically on his way on to his family. I got out and checked into the hostel for a day, before going to the campsite to celebrate christmas with Ronja and Sönke =)
In the night again at almost the same time as the night before again an alarm went off. It was the new asian guy in my room, who jumped off his bed and took his packed suitcase etc. to leave without a word. Weird thing was, that he came back at about 7am. We were wondering if he missed his flight or something... But we didn't want to wake him. Anyway he was back and I had to leave. Well wanted to. I had looked online for a good spot to hitch a hike to the south (before christmas all buses are expensive or booked out...). I took a bus all the way to the edge of the city and waited. It slowly started drizzling when a car stopped and took me to Ashburton, about an hour south of Chch. It was Arnheim, a half dutch half australian guy, who offered me to call him in case I didn't get a ride to Dunedin that day. He dropped me off at a busy road towards the south in Ashburton where I again dropped my bags and got ready for a long wait. Luckily it had stopped raining, though it still was really cloudy and didn't look too nice.
I only waited about 15 minutes when another car stopped. In the back a mountain bike, so just one seat left for me. David was his name, he works in Blenheim and is a biologist, interested in small birds and is a very active guy, doing many outdoor activities. He of course was on the way to his family for christmas, they live just a little west of Dunedin and he knows Dunedin well, because he lived and studied there. On the way he showed me a little around Oamaru. Well he just drove around and told me there was a great steampunk museum. I was interested, though of course didn't want to make him stop for me and had no clue if I could or wanted to spend a night here.
We drove on and finally arrived in Dunedin. Here again he showed me a few things, such as the steepest road in the world. Well the steepest residency road of the world (though I remember some very steep roads in Italy!). Anyway he drove up there! It was crazy! That road is really freacking steep! I felt like in a rollercoaster driving up, ready to rush down! But n the top there's not much to do/ see. Houses to the left and right, just a little view. But a few nice things saying it's the steepest residency road in the world. The street was big enough for him to turn around and drive back down again, slowly of course. He said in the past people actually died doing stupid things like jumping in garbage cans and rolling down the hill...
Another thing he told me was, that the cycle lanes in Dunedin are broad because once a famous professor was run over by a car, while riding his bike. That's why they made the cycle lanes broader, so this won't happen again (I guess). You could still see the old marks, which were nearly half as wide as the new ones!
He then dropped me off at the hostel, because it was basically on his way on to his family. I got out and checked into the hostel for a day, before going to the campsite to celebrate christmas with Ronja and Sönke =)
Near the Cathedral, that artsy thing in the background is a popular meeting place, closeby the "wizard of Christchurch" walks around and gives speeches!
FYI: The wizard is a old man, with long grey beard who walks around in a wizard robe and has a staff of Gandalf!!! Oh and he gets paid for doing that from the city...
I only saw the wizard for a short bit, he rushed past me, so I couldn't ask him any questions...
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