Christchurch

I'm in Christchurch, my final stop in New Zealand. When I arrived yesterday afternoon, I immediately went out for a stroll and really liked it here. It felt like the city had such a great energy, but I'm realizing today that I don't particularly love this suburban sprawl of a town. Mostly what I liked was actually getting a feeling for Christchurch, rather than a vaguely glowing approximation overwhelmed by the World Cup, which is what I've gotten everywhere else.

Today I walked through Hagley Park, a huge green space separating the western suburbs from the actual city centre. The hotel owner told me it only takes about 15 minutes to get downtown that way, so after 30 minutes of walking, I was rather annoyed at his exaggeration, and looked up to find myself at the far northeastern corner of the park, when I should have followed the short path West-East. No wonder I'd been going so long seeing nothing but trees.

When I finally made it to the right place, I could only walk a couple of blocks before running into the fence surrounding the closed-off area. Almost all of downtown is still shut to the public after the earthquake, and few businesses are operating nearby. In general, though, Christchurch is less a city destroyed than a city rebuilding. Cranes tower over most of the blocked off section, and there's construction going on everywhere.

I did see one building which was obviously apartments, and almost the entire half of the structure facing me had crumbled. It was as if someone had dissected the building from the top down, and all the rubble was still there, including things like a refrigerator in a kitchen. I thought of taking a picture, but then decided not to. How many people died in that building? Or escaped with their lives, but lost everything else that they had? I couldn't do it; it was a bit too morbid, even for me.

From there I walked through the botanical garden, the art walk, and finally the correct path through the park, back to Riccarton, the suburb where I'm staying. I can see why Christchurch is called New Zealand's garden city, because there's so much park land, and it's all rather lovely. But beyond that... well, I've been able to do plenty of shopping and have eaten well.

Maybe 2 blocks from my hotel there's an Irish bar with a big "we're back open!" sign out front, which I thought looked just my speed, and figured I'd do dinner and a pint down there tonight. On my second walk past, though, I noticed a sign in the window forbidding hats, steel-toed boots, and jandels (apparently Kiwi for flip-flops), "for everyone's safety." You know, there's no indication of why the place was temporarily closed... I think I might not want to get in a brawl tonight, and may need to make alternative supper plans.

Tomorrow afternoon I leave New Zealand and make a short stop in Melbourne before heading back home. I had been really excited for Melbourne before getting here, but after all this time with the Kiwis, I'm dreading Australia a bit. The New Zealanders have been wonderful, and they really paint the Aussies in a poor light. I'm sure it's not true, but you know me, I always tend to feel more of a kindred spirit with the shadow country than the always-getting-noticed big brother next door.

I guess we'll see. The thing that most bums me out is the idea of going back to Seattle. Sure, I miss my cats and my Dirty Half Dozen, but... I can't even fathom that life from here. Not a bit. I could stay here weeks and weeks longer...