Having covered the Christchurch earthquakes in a journalistic capacity, along with maintaining an earthquake blog, I thought it would be interesting to see how "earthquake tourism" was doing in the city. Hassle-Free Tours are a well known company in the area and I'd often seen their double-decker buses cruising through the CBD. The Discover Christchurch tour sounded like a good option so armed with my camera and notebook, I set off on a chilly Friday morning.
City CentreThe first hour of the tour was on an open-top double-decker bus and this took us through the city centre area. The guide gave a running commentary and pointed out the number of cranes on the skyline - about 20 - and explained how the city is being rebuilt in precincts. At the moment, Christchurch central has many open spaces where buildings have been demolished, as well as some new buildings and a large number of ruined ones. The tourists on board asked questions as we observed the devastated Christchurch Cathedral and the Catholic Basilica. In places, shipping containers lined the streets, preventing the potential collapse of damaged buildings. Gap-filler projects were pointed out where groups of people have beautified empty land by placing garden features, benches and other objects of interest. Surprise was expressed at the number of broken buildings that still lined the streets - their condition making it obvious that they would have to be demolished.
Christchurch Tour
After the CBD tour, I transferred onto a closed-top 1960's London Bus for the remaining two hours of my adventure. Our first stop was Mona Vale, a beautiful historic property close to town. The gracious old buildings sustained serious damage in the earthquakes but are undergoing restoration work at present. The gardens are an amazing mix of roses, a lily pond and a profusions of coloured blossoms. A stream meanders along the edge of Mona Vale and across the water are a number of beautiful homes - some also undergoing a rebuild due to earthquake damage.
Sumner
From Mona Vale, we headed right across the city to a quaint beach area named Sumner. Our guide pointed out the shipping containers that lined the road to the beach, saying they were there to prevent rockfalls from reaching the road. On the top of the hills were the remained of homes that had plunged down the cliffs during the earthquake. Sumner was open for business and coffee shops lined the waterfront area. A large cave on the beach was open but carried warnings on rockfalls and currents. Seagulls hovered, hoping for scraps from people walking along the beach.
Port Hills
Our last stop of the day was on the top of the Port Hills. These hills separate Sumner from Lyttelton which is the harbour that serves Christchurch. The road was windy and narrow and at the summit, it was closed off. It suffered from large rockfalls during the earthquakes and is no longer safe to use. The views from our vantage point were amazing - pale turquoise waters, gold and green hills, and wispy white clouds.
All in all it was a wonderful trip and although I have lived in Christchurch for ten years, I learned a number of things about my city. You can book your tour with Hassle-Free here.
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