CHRISTCHURCH - NEW ZEALAND

13th - 15th Aug 2011

The Red Zone

On into Christchurch. Coming from the south, north and/or west you would not really notice anything amiss. I went to the Jailhouse to dump my kit and then on to the racecourse at Riccarton Park.

Left: Riccarton Park racecourse. I would say the place is similar in size and layout to Stratford except it is, as is most racing here, geared to the Flat. I got there a bit early, before most had arrived, hence empty stands. The little tent in the parade ring was to house a very jolly Irish band which played between races.

Right: Groups of local 'toffs' set up some extravagantly laden picnic tables along the rails.  I hovered around expectantly, hoping to be invited to share their champagne and sausage rolls. In vain.

The going was 'good' and there were some tight finishes. The programme of 10 races began with a 2 mile ( although they did everything in metres and kilograms here. How tedious. ) hurdle race. The 7th race was the Grand National Steeplechase. The remainder were all Flat.

Racing was interspersed with entertainment in the parade ring by such things as sheepdog displays... and very agile they were too........ 

... and a parade by the Christchurch Hunt ( left ). I was not exactly clear what they hunted as, to my knowledge, there are no foxes in NZ. Possums maybe? Everybody hunts possums, but they are nocturnal and climb trees so these hounds might be at a disadvantage there.....perhaps they have a terrier to run up trees, with night vision goggles.

..... and of course the Oirish band called 'The Boys from Ballyrag' which was excellent. As you can see, they were warmly dressed for the occasion.

The main feature of the day was the FMG Grand National Steeplechase over 5600 metres ( I think that is about 4 miles ) and twenty two fences. All the races, including this, were started from stalls.

The stands ( right ) were respectfully full before the race. It was cold, which might have explained why few ventured out onto the lawns around the paddock. Also, there are no bookies. All the gambling is done on a tote system operating in the stands. They have a 'pre-parade ring' at the back which attracted more spectators. 

 

Left: A fence on the home straight. The portable fences down the far side are so soft that the horses just ran through them. Then they put three fences on the home straight with supporting rails 3 ft up at the back ( as per photo ). Not surprisingly a couple of horses tripped up; one fatally, falling on the rails just on the far side of this group. The eventual winner, Counter Punch ( No. 1 in blue ), just leads here. He won it last year too.

 

Lots of 'Jockettes' were participating, and very successfully too. This lady ( right ) had just won a race. I noticed that the colours were in all cases those of the trainer, not the owner. I think that is a bit of a swizz for the poor wage paying owners!

And after all that, no sign of McCririck. I had had a pleasant and most interesting day at the races. 

Jump racing in NZ is still very much the poor cousin to the Flat despite the fact that NZ exports many highly successful NH horses to the UK. They are trying to rectify this, but I doubt they will succeed. There is probably more public interest in 'harness' and 'trotting' racing which I, personally, find remarkably tedious. The predominant sport, indeed religion, in NZ is undoubtedly Rugby, of the Union variety. Not long to go now to the Rugby World Cup here ( Sept 8th? ). The whole country is winding itself up into a frenzy about this. It will be good to be out of the place then when prices will soar, there will be queues for everything and no accomodation or transport to be found anywhere. Best watched from the comfort of an armchair in front of the telly, if you ask me.

I had checked in, voluntarily, to a place called The Jailhouse. It was...the jaihouse until some time ago. The owners have, imaginatively, not changed it too much. There is now better heating perhaps, good kitchen facilities, internet, TV lounges etc. Quite comfortable really.......but no smoking, of course. It is not difficult to escape.

.....and the 'cells' had retained most of their original character and decor. Bloody heavy steel doors and locks with walls three feet thick! You could, however, keep your lights on for as long as you liked but you were expected to put your rubbish bin out for collection each morning.

Left: This was part of the normal ( voluntary ) check-in procedures.

I am, apparently, 180 somethings high. I didn't know that.

As mentioned before, you wouldn't know anything was wrong with Christchurch until you walked towards the City Centre. It was here and towards the sea on the east side that the earthquakes struck; firstly in Sept 2010 and then again, with seriously fatal results, in Feb 2011 and with many after-shocks in between and afterwards. The central area, the 'red zone' is still fenced off. There is a river through the centre which caused a lot of foundation 'slippage' and even though many tall buildings remain standing, their foundations are irreparably damaged and will have to be pulled down.

The red zone is relatively small, but contained all the old buildings, offices and main shopping centre. It couldn't have happened at a worse place. Christchurch wasn't even considered a major earthquake threat, unlike Wellington which sits on a known fault-line. The zone is cordoned off by a large fence decorated with 'serious danger' warning signs.

Even after 6 months they have hardly started the necessary demolition and clearance work, let alone reconstruction.

 

Right: This was the Methodist church. This collapsed in one of the after-shocks killing three workmen who were inside assessing previous damage. Both the grand Anglican cathedral, the central point of the city, and it's RC equivalent have been destroyed. The 'Good Lord' did not look kindly on his edifices in Christchurch. The place will have to be renamed Christ-no-church.

Life goes on outside the centre, and I took shelter inside a pleasant pub just as a big thunderstorm plus hail approached. The pub, name forgotten, served a delicious, nearly up to The Grapes standard, Sunday roast lunch. They were also showing on TV the demise of the Indians in the 3rd Test. This marked the beginning of some rather wintry weather. I had booked a day return trip on the 'Tranz Alpine' ( yes, the 'z' is considered trendy ) train to Greymouth, on the west coast, the next day, just for the scenic ride. I had received parole from the Jailhouse.
Woke up ( without warders banging on the cell door ) at 0645hrs to discover that there had been a dump of about 6" of snow. I thought firstly, the NZ forecasters are a lot better than the UK equivalent and, secondly, that there was a fair chance the train to and/or from Greymouth would not be operating. A shuttle bus picked us up outside the Jailhouse for the run to the station. The train was due to leave at 0815hrs but, due to snow clogging the points, it was delayed until 0915hrs. We duly departed. It is a 4.5 hour trip.

Left: A snowy scene just outside Christchurch. The Kiwis are not used to snow at sea level, especially around Christchurch. It causes havoc with their transport....... I mean even more so than in UK.

 

Right: They have open air observation platforms on the trains. I supect these are even more popular in summer when it's not snowing a blizzard. Due to the icy conditions we were told to take care on the 'sluppery dick'.


 

On the way westwards to Greymouth we followed the Waimakariri river. Lots of tunnels, viaducts and impressive scenery but mostly hidden by the snow.  The bar car was doing good business. This area is supposedly home to the Greater Spotted Kiwi although, as it was wittily pointed out, is not spotted very often.

 

The commentary by the 'conductor' was possibly somewhat scripted, ie. most of what was described was invisible. At this point ( right ) we were told to look at the many Merino sheep which are farmed up here. You would need damned good eyes to see sheep in this landscape. Reminds me of that totally white painting entitled 'Anaemic Virgin Nuns in White Habits Walking to Church in a Snowstorm'.

Left: Blue skies when we reached Greymouth. There are three main passenger train routes in NZ, collectively called Tranz Scenic. This one is the Tranz Alpine ( none of the staff appear to like the 'tranz' bit ). The train between Christchurch and Picton up the east coast is the Coastal Pacific ( changed back from Tranz Coastal ), and the one between Wellington and Auckland is the Overlander. I hope to have done all three.

Right: An interesting mural depicting many historic events in the Greymouth area. Quite clever, I thought.

The weather was much better on the way back. This is following the river Grey out of Greymouth.

....with a stop at Arthurs Pass, the highest point on the route at about half way, for a spot of snowballing.

There were lots of Chinese types on the train who were enthusiastically throwing snow over one another. NZ in general is a popular destination, it seems, for people from the Orient; both tourists and residents. The street map I have of Christchurch duplicates many street names in Japanese, for example. ( nothing to do with earthquakes I hasten to add....I don't think ).

Left: A typical view over a gorge once the snowstorm had abated. These railways were completed at the beginning of the 20th century. The engineering work, with all the tunnels and bridges involved, was an incredible feat.

.....and just before we got back we passed through this rather snowy vineyard.

With more snow forecast overnight travel arrangements might prove uncertain. I believe the airport has already been closed, and it doesn't take much to stop the buses. I am booked onto the 0700hrs Coastal Pacific. I intend to break the journey with a stop-over at Kaikoura, on the coast half way up to Picton. This place is noted for the proliferation of sea-life, especially sperm whales ( of Moby Dick fame ), which feed just off-shore. We shall see. Meanwhile, back to jail.