Christchurch, New Zealand: NZ's new city of cool, more Banksy than Banks

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This was published 8 years ago

Christchurch, New Zealand: NZ's new city of cool, more Banksy than Banks

By Steve Meacham
Updated
Cashel Street Mall, where shops have popped up built from shipping containers.

Cashel Street Mall, where shops have popped up built from shipping containers.Credit: Alamy

Sam Crofskey's heavily pregnant wife was up a ladder in their inner city cafe when the earthquake hit on February 22, 2011. It was lunchtime and a hundred people were in, enjoying a break.

In just a few minutes, their lives changed irrevocably. Like hundreds of thousands of other Christchurch citizens, their business and their home had been wrecked. And like many others, they considered moving abroad, to Sydney or New York, to make a fresh start.

Four years later, their reincarnated cafe, C1 Espresso, is doing thriving business in its new home, a heritage listed former post office across the High Street from their former premises. They were one of the first cafes to move back into the CBD, and customers came - even though most of the surrounding buildings have been demolished.

Sliders delivered by metal tube from C1 Espresso, Christchurch, NZ.

Sliders delivered by metal tube from C1 Espresso, Christchurch, NZ.

They've even attracted the attention of The New York Times and the BBC - thanks to the novel way guests receive their "Pneumatic Sliders" (mini-burgers plus optional chips), delivered from the kitchen in a metal canister through a Willy Wonka-like network of transparent pneumatic tubes.

There were a few teething problems, Crofskey confesses over a coffee and salmon bagel. One food capsule broke through the tube and smashed a window; another hit a table. "But no one was injured," Crofskey says, and the system has worked perfectly since a brake was installed.

Later this year, he and his wife are opening a boutique hotel (also called C1 and featuring the same pneumatic delivery) above the cafe. No wonder Crofskey and his cafe are seen as emblematic of the new Christchurch that is rising, Phoenix-like, from the rubble and devastation of 2011.

Punting on the Avon River.

Punting on the Avon River.Credit: iStock

Whereas the old Christchurch was "safe", staid, conservative and essentially backward-looking, what is growing in its place is edgier, more open-minded, more than a little daring.

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It's as if Christchurch has been shaken from its stupor, suddenly thrust into the 21st century.

"We'd lost the city before the earthquake," Crofskey says. "Young people were leaving as soon as they had the money. People would give Christchurch shit and it was hard to defend it. I defy anyone to knock Christchurch now. Young people are returning to be part of the solution. It doesn't look like it, but I think we're winning. Christchurch's mindset has changed."

Cardboard Cathedral.

Cardboard Cathedral.Credit: Alamy

This dramatic turn in civic spirit is new. For two, even three years after the earthquake, the city was in "transition", and demolition teams are still at work this weekend as I walk around the CBD. But the master plan is done; the new, smaller, greener CBD mapped out; construction well under way in the "rebuild" stage.

It's far from finished, and you'll probably be blanched by the evidence of the destructive power of nature, and how you'd cope if it was wreaked upon your family or community. But how often do you get to see an historic city reborn? And what better way of demonstrating antipodean solidarity than taking an extra day or two to see it for yourself (and boost the local economy) if you're visiting New Zealand anyway?

Of course, Christchurch airport has always been the gateway to the delights of the South Island, and most of the city's traditional attractions - the Botanic Gardens, the Canterbury Museum, the historic trams and the archaic joy of punting on the Avon - either survived the earthquake or are back operating, so enjoy.

But the best way to see Christchurch is through fresh eyes. As our driver into the city puts it: "Some of the buildings which would have provoked letters of protest to the editor for being good for Sydney or London, but too racy for Christchurch, are now accepted as the direction the city is heading."

Certainly the most obvious signs of the new Christchurch are the artworks. This was a landscape first charted by Captain Cook in 1769, who named the wonderful geographical appendage slightly south of where Christchurch would be founded "Banks Peninsula" after his wealthy "guest", Sir Joseph Banks.

But this new city? It's more Banksy than Banks.

When I visit in March, the city landscape has just been brightened by nine huge wall murals, each one created by a world class street artist invited to take part in Streetwise Christchurch. You can download an app, and listen to the artists explain their works as you walk around the city. My favourite? Owen Dipple's striking ballerina on the rear of the newly restored Isaac Theatre Royal.

The same artists, and many more, feature in a fascinating exhibition of street art in what used to be the squash courts and gym of the city's YMCA. Curator George Shaw and his wife Shannon own the largest Banksy collection in the Southern Hemisphere and he shows me the plans for Museum of Street Art and Community Theatre that is due to open at the YMCA in 2016. "It's a world first," he says. "And it will showcase street artists from around the world."

It's almost obligatory to visit Quake City, the museum dedicated to what happened that awful day. But on the other side of the street there's Re-Start, the multi-coloured cluster of shops and cafes in converted containers that serves as the city's temporary and movable shopping centre. Being Saturday, it is packed and full of life - a symbol of the city's ingenuity and resilience.

So too, of course, is the city's famous Cardboard Cathedral, designed by "disaster architect" Shigeru Ban using 86 cardboard tubes and opened in 2013. It's an uplifting and light-spirited space - a stark contrast to the sad ruins of the old Anglican ChristChurch Cathedral whose striking tower and west wall were destroyed in the earthquake.

What to do with this cathedral still remains the most divisive subject in the city. The Anglican authorities want to knock it down and replace it with a contemporary building. But there are posters everywhere calling for it to be restored, and its future lies in the balance.

If the ruined cathedral has become a symbol of disharmony, it's not hard to find examples of reinvigoration. The Tannery, in an industrial suburb, has been converted into a boutique shopping destination featuring New Zealand designers and artists. Victoria Street is the new restaurant strip while Oxford Terrace is being rebuilt. Construction has begun on the new boardwalk that will follow the Avon all the way to the sea.

This year, 2015, is a turning point for Christchurch. If you get the chance, see it soon.

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

christchurchnz.com

GETTING THERE: Air New Zealand fly daily from all main Australian cities to Christchurch. see www.airnewzealand.com.au

STAYING THERE: Hotel Montreal is Christchurch's newest boutique hotel, opening in 2014 with Argentinian Polo decor, 363 Montreal Street, Christchurch. Phone (+64) 3-943 8547.

DINING THERE: C1 Espresso, Corner High Street & Tuam Streets, Christchurch. Phone (+64) 3 3-379 1917, see www.c1espresso.co.nz.

King of Snake, an Asian fusion restaurant, is recommended, 145 Victoria Street, Christchurch. Phone (+64) 3-365 7363, see www.kingofsnake.co.nz.

The writer was a guest of Air New Zealand and Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism.

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