It’s our last full day in Christchurch and we head out to the Quake Museum. It is a very thoughtful exhibition that details the events of both the September 2010 and the February 2011 quakes. There is some disconcerting video that captures the moment the 2011 quake hit. Unfortunately, it was at 12:51 pm in the afternoon on a workday, so there were many people downtown, which contributed to the massive loss of life.
After several hours in the museum, we walk over to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens have been here for quite some time and are very mature. Highlights at this time of year include the lovely display of Hydrangea, the Dahlia Garden (my favorites) and the Rose Garden.
There are a couple of items Dick needs to check off his hit list, so we catch an Uber and head over to Three Boys Brewing and The Twisted Hop. We decide to walk back through Hadley Park, a huge park, and finish with dinner at the Pommeroy. A nice day.
Mary
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Christchurch – somehow it seems appropriate to finish up with a visit to the Quake Museum. A very sobering experience to say the least. The city was pretty much destroyed by the quakes and aftershocks Among the exhibits there was a moving set of video interviews with folks who had lived through the event. Tears all around.
Beer geek that I am, we needed to check off some notable pubs and breweries in the area.
First up was Three Boys, a micro that was early on the Christchurch brewery scene. Good citizens, these guys. They created a beer called ‘7.1’ after the quake of 2010. During a scheduled brew in September of that year, a major aftershock knocked out power at the brewery for 45 minutes and temperature control was lost. It could have been a disaster, but the brewer used the opportunity to his advantage. The beer came out stronger than usual due to the reduction in the amount of water used and had an alcohol content of 7.1%, marking the magnitude of the quake.
Two other notable beer joints were ‘Twisted Hops’, a great place two blocks from the Boys and the ‘Volstead Trading Company’, a small craft pub near the city gardens. Nice stops.
We wrapped up our time in Christchurch at our local pub, Pommeroy. Doesn’t get much better.
Dick