Aotearoa - A visit to the South Island - Christchurch
Despite many friends and family members making the three hour trip across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, Neither Janelle or I have ever been. Some of my enthusiast friends fairly frequently head across for railfan trips, as well as sightseeing and cycling.
This year, we were looking at South Africa for a friends 50th, but unfortunately that fell through so, we looked at other options. WA, and the states southern wineries were an option, until we started looking at flights which were fairly ridiculous prices.
Turning the other way however, Christchurch was reasonable, and the Tranz Alpine from there to Greymouth has been on the great railway journeys list for a while, so that formed a basis for a trip.
Apart from accomodation, a car and a brewery tour in Dunedin, we hadn't really booked in much else, even in the weeks leading up to the trip. We've said a couple of times in the two weeks that it's really the most underprepared we've ever been on a trip for a long time!
Being so far south ( the 45th parallel, or halfway “line” between the equator and the South Pole) runs across the South Island, and Christchurch is lower than Hobart, a lot of things (tourist railways) aren't in season.
Not that everything is about railways of course!
Landing in Christchurch on a sunny Saturday after a very pleasant flight, we checked in to our hotel, and walked into town for a look around.
Where we were staying is opposite the extremely large Hagley park, not too much of a walk out of the city centre. Heading south along the side of the park, and the Avon River, we soon came to tram tracks coming up Rolleston Avenue, and turning right into Armagh St. No trams in sight, so we kept walking, passing the extremely impressive bluestone Christ's College, looking very much like an English private school!
The stunning Christ’s College, an amazing structure that wouldn’t look out of place in Europe.
Christchurch was founded by Anglican free settlers, so there's many buildings and churches relating to that faith around the city.
The streets closer into the city centre are all named after Anglican Diocese from around the world, rather than the usual English colonial habit of King St, George St, Elizabeth St and so on.
At the corner of Worcester St., a single truck Brill formerly of the Invercargill tramways came into view. There’s similar cars operating on the Bendigo tramways heritage system, but it was nice to see this one!
The beautifully restored Invercargill No. 15 single truck Birney tram, manufactured by the Brill company, Philadelphia in 1921.
I was keen to ride this one, but we were still in exploring mode, and as the trams essentially finish at 4pm, it made more sense to wander this first afternoon, then look at our options in the morning.
We continued to follow the tram tracks, past the under restoration Arts Centre precinct, formerly Canterbury College, and the boys and girls high schools.
Like a lot of the older buildings (and many newer ones), the buildings were severely damaged in the 2010 and 2011 series of earthquakes, and are still under rebuilding. There are still buildings boarded up waiting to be restored or demolished this long after the event.
We crossed the river Avon, and then turning right along the river, we came to an interesting series of buildings, the Riverside markets. After the January 2011 earthquakes that devastated the city centre, a pop up shopping strip in shipping containers and interesting pre fab buildings.
Five years later, that was replaced with permanent structures that are now a great destination in the city, with laneways, and a great variety of food and beverage options.
One of the many stores in the Riverside markets offering fresh produce.
One of the great things is that you can buy produce from several stores, and eat at other different ones, or take it outside and sit in the sun and watch the trams along the riverside!
There was a nice little bar there with 20+ beers on tap from a range of local brewers, so I sampled a couple of different ones, while Janelle tried the local wines.
With over 20 beers, ciders and wines available, the Canterbury Brewers Collective does a great job of showing off local brewers and vintners!
We also picked up some nice small goods and a bottle of wine to settle in with in our room to watch the Matildas v England game!
Next morning, we wandered back into town, and picked up a ride on Sydney Tramway Museum's R class drop centre tram 1808 on loan, which is painted blue and renumbered 1888.
Former Sydney R Class tram 1808 has had a number change for marketing purposes. Inside, it’s still full of vintage Sydney advertising posters, and is a nice way to see the city.
We decided to do a full lap, or near enough of the 4km circuit to get our bearings before setting off on foot to do some more exploring. The commentary was interesting, however the thing that has stuck with me was the driver saying it's not an amusement ride, it's for people to get on and off, and not just stay on!
The Christchurch tramway system, as a public transport entity finished in the 1950s, as they did in many countries post war for the usual reasons - the rise of personal car ownership, and deferred maintenance making them less viable than previous. The system which stretched out over 86 km, saw its last trams on September 10, 1954, 74 years after the first services left Cathedral Square.
1995 saw the return of trams to the city centre, with Cathedral Square once again forming a key stop on the line, although a new covered area and ticket office had been established at Cathedral Junction, near New Regent Street, where a siding also runs to the tram depot.
In February 2015, a further extension was added, down High St. however when we visited, the trams were stopping several hundred metres from the end of the line due to construction.
While on our lap of the tramway, and walking, the amount of new construction, and vacant spaces waiting to be rebuilt on was staggering, with the remaining old buildings left us wondering what the city had been like before the disasters.
We had lunch at a rooftop bar recommended by the tram driver (I'm not going to)!, and caught the Brill back through the city before revisiting the riverside markets for a breather.
Following the Avon river through to the Botanical gardens was a very pleasant stroll in the sunshine, before we headed back into the Arts Precinct to a nice little bar to sit and watch the world - and trams go by.
The boat sheds on the Avon River, where, you can depart for a journey up through the botanical gardens.
Proper looking punts and boatmen (as I’ve seen on Poirot and other sources of historical reference)!
We timed our run nicely to coincide with the last tram of the day, the Brill again, and caught it back to the stop closest to our hotel.
Next morning we woke to pouring rain, not ideal for our journey on the Tranzalpine!