Containerchaos

December 21st 2016

After we missed the city centre by a few streets last time, we're heading downtown with a bit more of a plan today — with our Car, naturally, as pedestrian traffic is not much of a thing here.
Again and again we see signs of the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake here: Many buildings are still under construction, some partially collapsed structures lay abandoned, and there's containers everywhere. Said containers also make up the re:START Mall which was constructed entirely from colourful shipping containers after the quake — "The Mission: To restart the heart."
The area is home to many trendy shops as well as a small playground and some sort of public square with international food stalls. If you've been to Camden Market in London, you might have a good idea what it looks like here.
In the adjacent yard there's a band playing live music below a large LED screen, kids are running around, and small crowds gather around street performers — we enjoy our Japanese / Lebanese lunch and the good vibes around here.
Some Asian family in front of us: "Appa, Americano? De." — Alright, Koreans. (That's like an Asiatenraten Jackpot — following them around for a bit was worth it...)

At the nearby Cathedral Square, the level of destruction the quake brought to the city becomes even more apparent: The old cathedral of Christchurch, which, by the way, was already damaged by an earthquake during its construction and had to be partially torn down, lies in ruins with only one half of the facade still standing.
Besides the cathedral is a sign greeting us with a "Hi there!" in a narrowly scribbled font and asking the real questions: Why did all this happen? — Clearly, it is a warning from the almighty who has been very patient with us, but wants a "24/7 relationship". And for that, your run of the mill church religion (which we of course follow faithfully — ask the Koreans praising us with a 'Hallelujah' in Seoul when they learned we were Christian) is just not enough.
We'd love to spend some more time debating this sign, but a newly arrived dude playing bagpipes and the happy old man dancing along to his tunes are demanding our undivided attention.
Much to Jan's delight, I learn that the Art Gallery here is open today and even free to visit (Quote: "Och nee, die hat doch offen...").
Christchurch, Tag 2

After we manage to break out of prison just after noon (Pro tip: The kitchen being cleaned from 10 to 11 does not mean you have to get up before that), we depart on one last little roadtrip to a coastal town someone at the hostel recommended to us — on our way, we have a great view on Christchurch and the surrounding nature. Along the coast we find a couple of pretty beaches and a calm sea.
We walk a short distance through the woods along the shore but, lacking swim trunks (long pants might not have been the best choice today...), drive on to Lyttleton, a small harbour town, pretty soon. The "downtown", consisting of a 200 meter strip of road with a handful of restaurants and shops, doesn't take long to explore and unfortunately we can't get into the harbour.
But at least we have enough time to once more return to China spiritually: Christchurch's "China" is made up of a couple small, flat grey buildings sandwiched between two large parking lots somewhere on the outskirts of town — the unofficial Chinatown spans from a Dragon PC Repair up to an Asian hairdresser on the other end. We walk through a small passage between a Chinese Supermarket and one more computer store that has various online games streaming in its window and notice that the English around us has died down, being replaced by Chinese chatter from all around.
We find a Korean Restaurant where the entire staff is currently eating lunch together, flex our language skills a bit, and have some nice food — with Christmas music playing in the background.

We spend most of the following day on our flight from Christchurch back to Auckland. Once there, we meet Johannes and spend the next day doing absolutely nothing — not bad at all. Now we're looking forward to our 25 hour time travel flight to Los Angeles...