“Cabin crew prepare for landing” echoed across the plane speakers as we began the decent into Queenstown airport. Met with vigorous turbulence, Ky clutched the airline “sick bag” for “just in case”, while little Luca slept blissfully. “Only a few minutes and we’ll be on land”, Ky told himself. Tess stayed calm, keeping both her boys in order. As the plane prepared to land, we awaited the familiar jolt and touch down of wheels.. which never came.. we noticed something.. we were going up again. An announcement rang out over the cabin.. a storm had hit Queenstown right as we were to land, the wind picked up, and we had to abort the landing. After circling for 20minutes, with a loss of communication with the airport towers (due to the storm), a decision was made to detour up to Christchurch. The initial disappointment set in, but after looking into our plans, we realized that the trip was salvageable, and we got to explore a new city.. Christchurch.
While never on our radar as a must visit city, Christchurch definitely surprised us. Decimated in the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, where 60-70% of the city was flattened, and over 10,000 homes destroyed, 15 years later the city definitely surprises. Rarely does a city get the chance to rebuild in a modern, forward thinking way, with input from the community like Christchurch has. Think modern architecture, a “Scandi feel”, very walkable, maximising green spaces, heroing the natural landmarks like the Avon river. We were pleasantly surprised, and impressed how the city has rebuilt. A thriving coffee culture is present, great spots for walking/running/riding, lots of art and culture.. while it isn’t as picturesque as Queenstown, it was a detour that we enjoyed.
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