(Re)start Christchurch

Monday 31st. The time is 16.40 and the half empty plane of Brussels Airlines from Brussels to London Heathrow is about to take off. It has been years since I have not seen my best friend and after several modification in my plans I now really going to visit her “down under” in New Zealand. Besides a few brief moments and days in 2012 it has been five years since we had some proper time to catch up and I am looking forward to it. First there is the flights. Three of them, with stop overs in London and Singapore. Singapore Airlines’

flight has a delay, but at the gates there is nobody that rally seems to care. After all what is fifteen minutes on an eleven hour journey. Besides, the piano, positioned in front of the gate has brought some pleasant distraction. After the first person found the courage to break the silence and play some swing music, the instrument has been occupied by talented and less talented musicians. The long haul journey is superb and the service is of the high standard one can expect from Singapore Airlines. I was packed in between two elderly people, stuck in the middle row. Usually this would cause troubles for my legs, but the leg space is big enough to forget about that. The gentleman on the right side is especially

interested in the free alcohol they provide on the plane and does not hold back to shamelessly ask for any strong alcoholic beverage as long as it is a double. Jacky, the lady on my left side, on her way to visit her son in Melbourne with her husband is a friendly person. She manages to recommend me to ask for a voucher of the airline company at Changi Airport. The voucher is worth 20 Singaporean Dollars and can be used for any product at the airport. As I have made two stop overs I get a double voucher and pass by at the foot massage salon for free! Not bad. Changi is

something else. Seven years ago me and fellow student visited the massive airport already once and I thought that the image I had created in my mind had probably made it cleaner, more spacious, luxurious and service oriented than it actually was. The opposite was true. I was again impressed.

Snow-topped mountains and green fields take over the view from the outstretched Sea of Tasman when I look through the window. What an amazing sight and how easy is it to imagine that the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed here. Just before touching down I get to see the large fields filled with sheep. What else can you expect in New Zealand. After an again pleasant flight I reach New Zealand, Christchurch. The entire visa procedure had gone incredibly smooth and I expected some more in depth questioning upon arrival in the actual country. Although my entrance card got coded and I was taken apart by a customs agent everything went fast and no really troubles occurred. Wow, this is something Canada could learn it’s lesson from.

Christchurch. It is only years ago since this city was hit by earthquakes that destroyed the entire downtown area. Not too much is visible in the outskirts. Suburbia is just like any other western city’s well organised and maintained neighbourhoods. Which makes me think. You travel across the world from the western country of the Netherlands, fly over countries like Kazakhstan and India, make a stopover in Singapore where it is 31C outside, fly over the thousands of Indonesian islands, all to end up in Christchurch with the same western suburbs. Of course, there is much and much more to see, you don’t visit New Zealand for its cities, but after the first day it is an ironic situation. After I have made my way to the hostel and cleaned myself up I walk into the downtown area. The formerly buzzing city centre of the hub of the South Island used to be just around the corner from the hostel, but after the earthquake not much is left of that. Basically the entire area has either been brought to the ground to avoid further incidents or is in the process of being brought down. The places where people meet nowadays for shopping, dining and meeting are generally improvised constructions or built out of containers, under the name “Restart Christchurch”. A good example of an improvised meeting point is Pallet Pavilion. The name well describes what it is. This bar, that doubles as a picnic spot and stage for live performances, is fenced by 6 meter high piles of pallets and the tables, chairs and bar are all made out of recycled materials. The stage obviously draws its visitors, partly by the lack of other stages and partly by the fact that it is a genius idea, as the ground around it is taken by vending cars that sell “street”-food. Everywhere people, signs and sights remind you of the devastation that has taken place. When I open my bank account at the ANZ-Bank Jono tells me it is impossible to find a trade worker that helps you out with the ordinary maintenance job, when it is not earthquake-related, for the normal price. It is not all bad though. As with all downs there are ups too. At the book shop I buy a roadmap. The lady behind the till asks me if I have a membership card. “Sorry, I am not from around here”, I tell her. “Oh, I am sorry”, she says. “You know, there are so many Irish and Brits around these days”. Yes, all the destruction creates a lot of job opportunities in construction and demolition.

I am sitting now at the Pallet Pavilion. Just said goodbye to Nile and Alin, two Irish world travellers. The jetlag is coming up now, although it is not as bad as I thought it was going to be it is still a 12 hour difference. It is the other side of the world.

As I mentioned before Canada can learn something from New Zealand, especially in bureaucracy. Small summary. The Canadian visa procedure takes about 2-3 months with a certain quota per year. This versus the ten minutes online application and three day waiting for approval in New Zealand. Arranging a bank account and telephone takes about a day in Canada and with that you have to pay a montly fee for your bank account most of the time and you cannot use your European phone, because they don’t use sim cards in Canada. In Christchurch I arranged a free bank account and a sim card for my Dutch phone, all together, in less than an hour. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Canada in so many indescribable way, but its bureaucracy…. New Zealand gives me good first impression. Can’t wait to see more.