Lyttelton & Christchurch reprise

Leaving Okains Bay involved climbing out of the morning ocean fog bank.  We then drove all the way around the summit road that follows the ridge of the main caldera away from the Banks peninsula - great views, but extremely twisty.

We wanted to see Lyttelton before returning Hal - one of the hardest hit Christchurch communities in the earthquakes.  Lyttelton is a small community perched on a hillside overlooking a harbour just over a hill (or through a tunnel) from Christchurch proper. It was the former home of Jen, Tony, Pico and Zinnia, who hosted us in Motueka.

It's certainly a cute and cozy community, even post-earthquake, and seems like it would be a great place to live.  Almost entirely built on steep slopes, which didn't help the earthquake situation.

Harbour at the foot of the hill.

Lots of earthquake damage and shoring-up was visible.

Like Christchurch, some lots formerly sporting buildings are now community spaces.

It's hard to tell where the "red zones" are (i.e. areas that are unstable and dangerous, where no one is allowed to go), but I'd be willing to bet this might be one.  The local newspaper said that one particular red zone house just had a huge boulder fall into it - the third time since the big quake that such a big rock has tumbled onto that property.  Yikes.

This cool shipping container-based cafe and pub called The Porthole sits upon the site of other popular cafes that were destroyed in the quakes.

What used to be at the Porthole site.

Porthole interior - pretty cool.  Bright and airy.

All too quickly it was time to go back to Christchurch, give Hal a bath and return him to his home.  At least he looked happy to be back among his brothers.

We then met up with Matt and his wife Kate again, who had graciously given us a place to stay for the night. And had picked us up from Hal's drop-off point.  And then took us to buy beer!  What wonderful people.  We stopped by the Twisted Hop first and had a happy hour beer - great IPA there, among other beers.

Then we stopped by Harringtons for "flagon" fills.  NZ doesn't do glass growler fills, instead they fill plastic PET (pop) bottles in the 1L-2L size range.  Lots of selection at Harringtons!

Then it was off to Matt and Kate's place - they are temporarily staying with their parents while transitioning to new digs.  So many thanks to their parents as well.  And what did I see when I walked into their house?

Oh of course - a classic poster from Silver Star in the BC interior, the ski hill where I learned to ski and did all of my childhood skiing.  Matt's parents go skiing at Silver Star quite often, as it turns out.  Small world.

Some Kiwi beers in the late-afternoon Kiwi sun, with Kiwis, followed.

To accompany the beer, we got classic NZ fish and chips in newsprint.  Fantastic stuff.

This was followed by a lot of beer sampling throughout the evening, which I hope to write more about over on the @hoplog beer blog if I ever get a chance to update it.  I need to give an extra shout out to Matt for his generosity, which involved dipping into his cellar to share some special NZ beers with me.

The possibly most interesting beer was also the last - a really wonderful barleywine intimately connected with the Christchurch quakes.  The Twisted Hop (where we had beer earlier that day) had a brewery in Christchurch's Central Business District.  They did some seismic upgrades, so their brewery was well-equipped to survive an earthquake.  When the second (big) earthquake hit, they had a barleywine in the fermenter, bubbling away.  Their brewery survived the quake, but the brewery itself was in a region so ravaged that it was designated a "red zone" that no one was allowed to enter (since a building might fall on you at any moment).  So Twisted Hop had stand by while their brewery stood idle for 6 months - with a barleywine sitting untouched in a fermenter.  This isn't a bad thing for a barley wine, which is very alcoholic, takes a long time to ferment, and benefits from extended conditioning and aging.  Once they were allowed back to the brewery, Twisted Hop bottled the barley wine and sold it under the name "Red Zone," for obvious reasons.

And Matt shared one of these rare bottles with me.  I really can't thank him enough.  An amazing story, and an amazing beer.

Note the "6.3 MAG" strength - the magnitude of the second and most devastating earthquake

The next morning, after a somewhat groggy post-barleywine breakfast, Matt's parents kindly gave us a ride to the airport, as they were on the same flight to Auckland as we were.  This included frequent-flyer valet parking and access to the New Zealand Air club lounge, so many thanks to them for such luxurious treatment!

We can certainly recommend cruising the South Island in a campervan if you're at all into nature, camping, mountains, ocean, or just general relaxation away from overpopulated urban areas.  It was a fantastic time, and was over in an eyeblink.

Christchurch

[Posting about 2-week-old events; hopefully we can remember what happened...]

After another short flight on Air New Zealand (and another viewing of their hilarious safety video), we landed in Christchurch, NZ, on the South Island.  Ah, the land of the Maori, of proper Rugby, of Kiwis and kiwis and fruit that looks like a kiwi.  But after stepping off the plane, it was mostly... nice.  Really nice.  No more burning heat, just a pleasant mid-20 temperature, a wide variety of green trees and flowers, green fields, and mountains.  People told us NZ is a lot like western Canada/British Columbia - and that's absolutely true.  The foliage is different, as are the accents, but geography and climate are strikingly similar.  Which helped to make us feel instantly at home.

Christchurch is a pretty town - with a huge city park, cafes, and a relaxed air about it.  It was also the epicenter of a couple of earthquakes very recently, which you probably heard about.  The second quake absolutely devastated the town, especially the old and/or tall buildings in the CBD (Central Business District = "downtown").  There has been a lot of cleanup, but earthquake evidence is everywhere - including many empty lots where buildings should be, and were.  There were also landslides, cracks opening in the earth, etc.

Just a block from our hostel.  Yes, the steeple usually goes on top.

The quake has spurred some innovative and cool ventures, partly out of necessity.  Transferring your business to a shipping container is a big one - and rather than just doing so temporarily, it is becoming a common look/fashion, especially for pubs and cafes.  The above is Smash Palace - an open air beer garden surrounded by scaffolding.  It's quite charming.

Rear left is the shipping container kitchen.

Bus for a bar.  Oh, and REALLY good craft beer, also more reasonably priced than Australia.  Great New Zealand craft beer was everywhere in Christchurch.  I've rarely been so happy.  :-)

Again, one block from our hostel.  Doesn't look too bad until you look inside the building at the ceilings.

Christchurch's famous cathedral, whose huge tower/steeple was so damaged it had to be removed (what hadn't already fallen).

Cleanup continues in the CBD.  They have ambitious plans for creating a livable, pedestrian-focused downtown core, taking advantage of the reconstruction opportunity.  But it will be a while before that becomes reality.  This is one of the few open streets through the downtown core - almost all of it is fenced off and inaccessible due to unstable buildings.  We were two of the many "earthquake tourists" who walked around these open CBD surveying the damage.

A tribute of 180 or so chairs, representing the people killed in the quakes.

But right on the edge of the CBD, rent appears to be cheap.  Cassels and Sons Brewery has a beautiful new pub located there - it's a very Portland-esque place with great beer and a nice patio.

I couldn't agree more

Christchurch also has great coffee on every corner, like this beauty from the Addington Coffee Co-op.

The Avon River flows through town.  You can rent kayaks or "Canadian boats" (i.e. canoes) for a calm paddle.

Our rooftop hostel dinner and view wasn't bad either.

Several antique buildings have more or less survived, but still aren't safe to enter.  The above is off limits, but across the street the worthwhile (and free) Cantebury museum is still open.

Lots of cool Maori art and history in the museum, as well as an Antarctica display.  (New Zealand operates Scott Base in the Antarctic.)

Also in the museum is a replica of the Paua Shell House, an older couple's house that they operated as a free attraction for years, that was jammed full of paua (abalone) shells and other shells.  After they passed on, they reconstructed it in the museum.

Cantebury Museum is on the edge of the botanical gardens and the massive city park.  This city just kept getting better and more relaxing as we wandered.  What could be better?

Oh, you're going to add another great craft beer bar to the equation?  OK, it just got better.  Pomeroy's is known as the go-to craft beer bar in Christchurch, and was very cozy.  We met up with Matt, a former VanBrewer who recently returned to his native Christchurch, for a pint or two.  He was good enough not only to tell us all about the beer scene, but also to give us a big & detailed rundown of places to go and things to see all around NZ.  Thanks Matt!

We strolled partway back to the hostel with Matt, who pointed out some interesting things.  Like the public displays that have been spontaneously erected in lots where earthquake-damaged houses were removed.  The above contains a walkway with a book exchange in an old commercial refrigerator.  Cool.  Matt mentioned that the housing close to the CBD used to be a lot more dense, but many places have been damaged and several removed, so it's now much more sparse.

He also pointed out these fractured girders set beside a bridge, which are not from the earthquakes - they're actually structural steel from the former World Trade Center buildings in New York.

Another lot transformed into a park with art, looking towards the CBD.

Christchurch has been through a lot, but it is a nice little city with a great vibe and some interesting stuff punctuating its overall relaxed atmosphere.  I'm glad we'll be returning here in order to fly to the north island.