My Week in Christchurch

 One of the things that you tend to notice out of Christchurch after walking around for a couple of days is that the damage from 2011 earthquake is still very noticeable, and as much as they've spent a lot of effort in rebuilding things.....there's still dozens of structures in town which haven't been torn down.

In some cases, it's all historical stuff, and they'd really like to find a way to stabilize the building, and rescue it. 

In the first picture, one structure survived without much damage....the other on the left is in a fragile situation and the cargo containers are there to prevent it from falling down onto cars or people....while they figure out a way of saving the building.

In the second picture, this is one of the more famous churches of the city, with about 20-percent of it having fallen, and the rest in some state of trying to be saved.  It might be a decade before they reach the stage of stabilizing it.

From the center of town, I would take a guess that almost 90-percent of the structures have been taken down, or fell on their own account. 

Oddly, the hotel I stayed in....built in 1909....as a NZ federal government building....had thick concrete walls, and appears to have suffered almost no damage at all from the earthquake.  Then you turn on a 360-degree circle and note that there's only one or two other buildings, out of forty nearby buildings.....that survived and in use today. 

The odd thing as well....lots of new buildings have gone up, and various parts of those buildings are up for lease, but unrented.  Maybe it's a slow period....maybe they've over-built.....but it's a very noticeable thing.

As for an end-point on construction?  Unknown. The state government has poured tons of money into roads and parks.  Thousands of construction guys can be seen around the city and there is some strange positive optimism that exists in Christchurch.  You also get the impression that a lot of folks are somewhat fearful of another quake and sleep in a fragile way.

Tourism?  Well, I hate to suggest it, but a fair number folks stand and admire the damage, and the reconstruction.  It's not something that you typically see.  I stood and watched two Chinese guys admiring some park area and how the new design appeared.  You could see it was giving them ideas. 

My humble feeling is that in a decade, some folks will say that Christchurch is the most liveable city in the world, and lay the nature of this comment on the rebuilding work.

Ten Things About New Zealand

 1.  As you stop in any cafe, or restaurant....the mighty fine folks of New Zealand will run up and serve you some of their best tap water....usually chilled.  I thought after ten to fifteen occasions....it was an awful kind gesture, and they must have been awful proud of their tap water.  On the whole of the idea, I will admit that it was pretty fair water, without any funny taste (as you would expect in most US cities.  I should also note that if you ever ran through that bottle that they brought out, they'd rush up to give you a whole second bottle.....free.

2.  At some point in Auckland, I turned a corner in the morning and here was a cafe that was serving up pancakes smothered with bacon and bananas on top.  Being from Alabama, I could not pass up this opportunity.

I will say that it's the best way of mixing everything possible onto one single plate.  You probably got enough calories to sustain you for 90-percent of the day.  Course, it did end up ranging in the $12 USD range....coffee extra.

You might also note 'The Law" sign above it, which typically laid out the NZ standard that if you even hint or act like you are drunk....they cut you off from further alcohol.  They are a bit dedicated on that stance....mostly because folks do enjoy consuming beer.

3.  Throughout NZ, folks typically have ribs on their menu.  So I sat down on the 2nd day in Auckland, and had some of the finest ribs of my life, with a tangy sauce on the side.  By the last day of the trip, I had tried at least six different plates of ribs.

I will note this as well....an average menu will have only eight items on it....with two items being fish of some type, then lamb, ribs, and the rest are beef dishes of some type.

4.  Generally, NZ folks drink beer to substantial portions.  In the one pub that I stopped in, they even offered up a 'beer research fund' jar at the counter, for tips.

The typical food menu would go to two pages max, but the typical drink menu would go to four pages.....which says a good bit over various offerings.

Bad beer?  Out of the twenty-five-odd beers I tried, I would suggest that the one that mixed in a hefty amount of ginger was the only way that I would disqualify.

5.  Virtually, every NZ guy will claim he's an expert on a hundred things.  I stopped one evening and stayed in a 'cabin' overlooking a 500-ft cliff.  It was a bed and breakfast deal, and the guy had put a ton of effort into the view, the cabin and the semi-rustic nature of the 'cabin'.

The fact that it was barely 20 foot away from the edge of this cliff....did weigh on my mind a good bit.  The view?  Worth a million.  The thing was, all around was brush, and it looked awful snaky. But in NZ, there are no snakes.

So you laid down and could hear the waves hitting the beach below and it put you to sleep awful fast.  As for this being a great idea?  All it was....was a steel capsule-like container, with some handy-man add-ons, and some plastic covering to prevent the breeze from hitting you.

6.  No matter where you go on the north isle, there are hundreds of reminders of volcanic activity.  Near the center of the isle is the chief volcano.

Naturally, down at the base of the volcano....they put up a fancy four-star hotel back in the late 1920s, and folks come from around the world to hang out there.

It's an odd hotel because it's got the old world cinema operation in the basement.  There's a fancy ballroom in the middle, and the place looks like something out of the 1930s.

The thing about the volcano and the hotel....it's all in the middle of nowhere.  There's one single gas station for about sixty miles.  You feel like you are in the middle of some lost civilization.

7.  I turned a corner in Queenstown, and here was this interesting bar....called the 'Ice Bar'.  They keep the temperature below -5 (Cel).  So, yeah, it is awful cold.  I didn't venture in (a regret).

It would be interesting to ask how long a guy sits there (they provide some kinda parka for the experience).  Then I'd be asking about the alcohol affect and the temperature.  It's probably not the kind of place you'd want to spend more than two hours.

8.  While in NZ, I was introduced to something they call the 'Blueberry Bomb'.

Roughly $7 USD, it's a giant smoothie, and is advertised as all-natural, without extra sugar (it's got enough to start with anyway.

Calories?  They are careful to make it confusing.  After consuming my 5th one.....I got around to figuring out the big container was in the range of 850 calories.  I guess it was meant for two or three days.  Yeah, I was consuming one every single morning.

If you can take one of these.....toss it into the freezer at your hotel for an hour, and then guzzle it down....the sugar fix hits you and you feel all happy and chilled.

It's probably something that you'd best not get addicted to.....for the calorie reason.

9.  At some point in my stay in Queenstown, I took a day-trip out to some remote area of the region, which overlooked the lake.

It was a small town situation, and we stopped at a city park, with a WW I memorial.

There's roughy twenty-five names carved up on the memorial....the guys who didn't come back.

When you look over this small village....the population in 1914 probably didn't exceed more than a thousand, and twenty-five lost souls did amount to an awful lot of the local character.

It's one of those things that you look at for a good ten minutes and realize the impact of the war, and the burden on folks after the war.  Still today, they likely remember the event.

10.  As you travel on public transport (trains and buses), you tend to see various signs....letting you know that destruction is a thing which can get into trouble....to include vandelism and spray-painting.

New Zealand folks are pretty serious about this.  Their threat?

You could end up with three months in prison and $2,000 NZD in fines.  A hefty deal.

The thing is....after a while, you notice that there isn't any graffiti around on trains, like you see in Germany or France.  Nor do you see damage on buses.

I'm guessing that after putting a few folks in jail for a month or two.....folks realized the cops were serious and this stupid stuff stopped.

After walking around, you tend to notice a limited number of radicals or criminals.  I think the judges are pretty serious about real jail time, and it has a positive influence on society.

NZ: North Island versus South Island

After roughly three weeks in New Zealand, you come to notice a number of things about the two islands.  Combined, the population is 6.4-million and growing.  The south island is the lesser island, with roughly 1.1-million.  The north island with 5.3-million.

The basic difference? 

The north island has Auckland, which is a magnet now for business and technology start-up operations.  I might add that it's also a major magnet for Chinese immigration and business-start-up shops.  You can draw a 40-mile circle around Auckland and probably find almost half the population of the island in that metropolitan area.

The connecting force of the north isle is Route One (going from Cape Reinga on northern most tip), to Wellington (the capital) on the far south of the isle.  It's safe to say that Route One has intense traffic and always in some stage of renovation.

I had this unique experience traveling north, when the cops closed off Route One because of a truck accident, and put everyone onto a dirt-road situation.  It was a 12-mile detour along a road that you'd typically avoid....and find yourself on a cliff-road where you might fall 200 feet easily if you went two feet further to the right. 

The landscape?  An American would say it looks an awful lot like Washington state (with the Volcanic-like landscape) and Tennessee (with the rolling hills). There's some point where I ventured off Route One onto Route Four....discovering a mostly rural area, cattle ranches, and small towns with just a gas station and general store. 

The south isle?  It's the mountainous region....more like the Alps of Europe than anything else, which takes up maybe one-third of the south isle.  The rest is mostly flat, farming land, and this is the region that typically draws a lot of tourism.

Christchurch, Queenstown, and Invercargill make up the bulk of population in this region. 

Why do people want to migrate into New Zealand?  I think it adds up to four simple feelings:

1.  It's safe.  You just don't see crime, drug usage, or crazy folks.

2.  The weather isn't that bad.  Summers are generally mild....maybe into mid-seventy to mid-eight range.  It does rain a fair bit but that gives you the 'green-look'.  Winters (especially on the far south), can offer up snow.

3.  Low stress.  You see a minimal amount of stress in just about everyone.

4.  Everyone claims to be an expert craftsman, transmission mechanic, grill cook, carpenter, and animal vet.  Once you get beyond Auckland, you kinda notice that things are rigged up in a fixer-up kind of way and folks make due with the limited knowledge that they have.  You could call up some neighbor and mention that you had brake issues, and he'd come over with his tool kit, to offer up his vast knowledge (enough for four 3x5 cards) and fix the issue.  I think people are impressed with this attitude about getting the job done.

But all of this immigration business is driving up home costs, and it's a shocker to note that homes around Wellington and Auckland will easily run 500,000 to one million NZD (340,000 to 680,000 USD).  A decent home with real property?  You'd be talking about 800,000 USD easily.  All of this is begging for light rail growth and home development forty to sixty miles away from the metropolitan areas.

I stood one day in Queenstown and admired the bank-real estate ads....noting a simple one-bedroom condo could run you in the range of $250,000 USD easily, if you were within the city limits.  We took off one day from the airport to fly around the range.....and you could see tons of growth around the airport with forty-odd buildings being constructed (banks, grocery operations, hotels).  If you made it into Christchurch and noted the construction efforts from 2011 earthquake episode, there's probably well over 3,000 construction guys at work.  There's probably enough work there to guarantee a stable work situation for at least ten more years.

The thing though that gets into your mind after a while.....you are at the edge of the Earth.  Getting anywhere with civilization (like Auckland) might take you two hours in the air.  Getting to Australia?  Maybe 3.5 hours in the air.  There are some folks on the extreme north of the north isle....who might only get into a real town or real grocery....maybe four times a year.  As much as the landscape begs for you.....the reality is that you need to accept limits on your life.

New Zealand and Spiders

After you've been in New Zealand for a couple of days, you tend to notice....spider webs.

Take a close-up view of the car.

Anything that sits idle for six to eight hours.....likely gets the attention of a spider.  I don't know the variety or if it's a killer....but they work their butt off.

This was a car parked along a city park....probably for six hours. 

You see this on buildings, trees, and just about every vehicle that rests. 

The Bus Station

 I typically don't blog on bus stations....mostly because they are about the last place on Earth (at least in Bama) to hang out.

However, on this vast trip down to New Zealand, I came to Christchurch....where they had the earthquake from 2011.  In the middle of town, virtually everything was wiped out, and they rebuilt the center of town.

So there is this state-of-the-art bus station....the kind of place that you would dream about in a thriving community.  Roughly sixteen gates are rigged up....all with automatic glass doors and a TV to note bus X has arrived and ready to accept passengers.

Marble floor.  Security cameras around the area.  A cop or two.  At least three coffee shops.  Open space for at least 3,000 people to transit from bus to bus.

In the middle of the 'yard', there's a control booth....with communications to each driver making their way around the city.

Fantastic design and the kind of place that you would dream of.  But here's the thing....it only occurred because the old station was literally destroyed and they had the state giving them tons of money to rebuild the center of town.  Otherwise, they'd probably never get this type of serious money.  Cost?  Unknown, but it had to be in the five-million US dollar range, with all the gimmicks included.

Oddly, no junkies or homeless guys hanging out.  Course, I think the cops are all over folks to avoid bringing their problems into the facility. 

The Tower Experience

In mid-town Dubai, there's the main attraction of Dubai....the tower.

So, I made the trip.  First, you need reservations.  Just about everyone and their brother want to go up to the top....particularly at 5PM to catch the start of the sun going down.  The sad thing is that you need to think about things like this six weeks prior and get your reservation into the system.

The cost?  Well....it's in the hefty $70 range for each person.

So you get to the entry point, and then you realize the traffic flow, there's at least 4,000 people lined up in different segments to make the trip to the top....like a her of cows.

You walk through this tunnel, and then onto this other tunnel, and finally get 25 minutes later....over to the elevator.  It's hot as heck inside of this elevator.

Then you get to the top, and gaze out at.....well....a sandy colored landscape.  I doubt if you can see clearly for more than 500 feet.  I asked about this, and the guy said this was normal.  So you looked at the images of the city....sandy-colored....and asked yourself why you paid out so much and was this really worth the trip.

I've been in probably twenty towers in my life and it's always an interesting view.....well....up until this point.  I probably spent 2.5 hours in some line, or processing through the episode, and it took eight minutes up there to convince me that this was worthless. 

Mice

In the middle of the Dubai Mall, there's this household shop with figures and statues.  So in the middle of the display area....there's this three-mouse plastic deal....with light bulbs inside of them. 

Yeah, it looks awful gaudy and cheap.  I actually walked in and priced it....roughly $25, for something likely made in China for $2. 

Putting that on display in some home?  It'd take a nutcase probably.  Back in the old days, I would have bought this and taken to the office for display on my desk.  But in this case, I just walked on by.  I bet they sell at least a dozen of these each week. 

Robes

Most of my life, I've often wondered where a Arab guy goes for his robe outfit.  So in the middle of the Dubai Mall.....you have a fine men's robe shop.

I stood there in front of the place for a good two minutes admiring the outfits on display.  Not that I'd buy one, but it's a display that you just never see.

Cost?  It's like fine Italian suits and you'd need a thousand to get anything they had.

Next to it?  A women's outfit robe shop. 

Real Popcorn

In the entry of the Dubai Mall....there's this shop on the side which sells popcorn.  Naturally, I stopped and bought a bag.

First, I must admit this was the finest popcorn that I'd ever eaten in my life. My guess, it had at least 300-percent the normal amount of butter added to it.

Bad for you?  They had some mega bag that they would sell you.....I just bought the regular bag.  I'm guessing the mega bag would given you a minimum of 700 calories with popcorn and butter together.

As for butterly hands at the end?  You needed to wash up bad. 

Trip Through Dubai

I wrapped up a three week trip.....Dubai for a couple of days, and the rest all in New Zealand.

So, some comments on Dubai:

1.  Beyond the Mall, it's a limited number of things that you'd go to Dubai for....VERY limited.

2.  Looking for any pork products?  You can just about forget that.  I sat and ate some sirloin steak pizza one night....which just doesn't work with pizza.

3.  Folks at every single hotel go way out of their way to be nice.

4.  If you've never been to the Dubai Airport.....there's no airport that reaches the level of 'look' that this airport has.  Just the bag-pick-up area by itself.....is big enough to put forty basketball courts there.  If you walked into the Emirates business-class lounge, it's big enough to handle over 3,000 people....with five different food courts. 

5. The Mall?  You could start at 8AM and I think you'd still be walking at 6PM....fairly amazed.  The thing is...you'd need to start out with at least a thousand dollars in your pocket, and expect most to bw gone by the end....easily.

6.  As bad as traffic is in New York City, Dubai is pushing to have even a worse traffic flow problem.  For a 15-minute ride to the airport, I had one hand on the door handle at all times, and kinda surprised how the driver avoided accidents. 

7.  Crime.  Well....no matter where you go, you just don't see it. 

8.  Every single employee?  Except for the guys at the border control point in the Airport.....everyone is a foreign employee.  A lot of Russians, Ukrainians, Philippine folks, and Egyptians.

9.  Even in November, it's still fairly hot.  And if you hung out for more than an hour....you'd be sunburned a bit.

10. Classy would be a word that you'd use often.     There's another world existing in Dubai.