NZ/Aus Days 5 & 6: Christchurch: A City Under Construction

Having only skirted the edge of Christchurch on our way in, we wanted to devote some time to seeing the town. So we packed a lunch and joined the traffic, circling roundabouts and zipping along the coast as we went. Craig navigated us right to the heart of downtown where we found parking and set off with Baby in the stroller.

It didn't take us long to realize that it was more than the main cathedral that was damaged in the 2011 earthquake. The whole city seemed to be under construction! We wove around piles of rubble, manhole covers, and lost our sidewalk more times than we could count. We'd highly recommend using a carrier instead of a stroller to carry your little one around! It was disappointing to see so much damage, but there is so much rebuild happening that it's like a rebirth. You could tell that the city has a vibrant art scene and the mix of traditional and modern architecture was interesting and pleasing to the eye. We would have liked to spend more time walking along the Avon River but so many of the paths were closed that it made route-finding a little challenging. We stumbled upon a funky container park with off-beat boutiques, cafes, and a Lululemon. We debated getting Baby out of the carrier to change her, solely so we could say we changed a diaper in a shipping container, but decided to leave her in peace.

A quick lunch at the edge of the botanical gardens wraped up our visit. We decided we'd gotten a taste of the town and although we didn't feel we would need to spend more time exploring it, Christchurch is a city we could see ourselves living in (once all of the road construction is finished!). We especially like its close location to a beautiful and vacant beach.

Speaking of which...we returned home, enjoyed a stroll in the sand, and spent the next day relaxing at this spot a block's walk from our apartment!

Baby's first steps on sand and in the ocean...

Terrible parents award?