A Break from the Bush: Human Geography Lecture, Shopping, and the Movies

Instead of hiking and gallivanting through the forest, today we took a break from the bush and spent the day learning about Christchurch and human geography, shopping, and going to the movies. 
We began the day by meeting with Eric Pawson, who is a professor of Cultural, Environmental and Historical Geography at the University of Canterbury. We held our outdoor discussion at Cracroft Reserve, where we could see the Canterbury plains and the Southern Alps in the distance. 

Dr. Pawson began by discussing the geography of the Canterbury Plains, which is made up of numerous fans of gravel that have been accumulating since the last Ice Age and the deltas of rivers such as the Waimakariri. Flooding and other hydrological behavior is determined by the mountains, but much of the regional taxes are used to build flood defenses and prevent the natural hydrological behavior. Between the gravel fans is a series of smaller rivers, whose hydrological behavior is controlled by the southerlies from Antarctica.

Christchurch, which was founded in 1850, was built on several thousand meters of gravel, which makes the area unstable as well as prone to earthquakes and flooding. Although the flood and earthquake risks where known facts, it was assumed the earthquake risk would come from the Alpine Fault, which runs the length of the country and is where the Pacific plate and the Indo-Australian plate meet. However, the series of earthquakes that began in September 2010 did not originate from this fault, but rather from a previously unknown network of faults underneath the city.

The worst of the earthquakes happened in February 2011 and occurred directly under the city, resulting in the death of nearly 200 people. Much of the destruction was caused by liquefaction, which destroyed the foundations of buildings. The Central Business District of Christchurch was one of the areas hit hardest, partially because it was built on former swampland. Seventy percent of the CBD had to be demolished as a result of damage caused by liquefaction. Virtually all houses close to a river or stream were destroyed, and thousands houses built on younger sediment in the delta were rendered inhabitable, creating what is now called the Residential Redzone.

In response to the destruction, organizations such as the Student Volunteer Army and the Farmy Army (made up of farmers) helped suburbs damaged by liquefaction.

Rebuilding Christchurch will take many years, and many are using the earthquakes as an opportunity to improve the city. The city must address not only the possibly of more earthquakes, but also potential effects of climate change such as flooding caused by rising sea levels. As the city is rebuilt, many new green initiatives are being taken on and there is a new focus on art and innovation. Dr. Pawson mentioned that adaptive and temporary urbanism are being explored and citizens are becoming increasingly involved. Although many positive improvements and innovations have been made, much of Christchurch still needs to be rebuilt and there is debate about what to do with inhabitable areas such as the Residential Redzone and the future of Christchurch.

After learning about the earthquakes and the challenges faced by the people of Christchurch, we continued our discussion with Dr. Pawson at a local coffee shop, The Cup, where he gave us packets of information about the history and rebuilding of Christchurch. He also gave us information about Hugh Wilson, a famous botanist and keeper of the Hinewai Reserve who we are all very excited to meet next week.

After tea-time, we gave our thanks to Dr. Pawson and made our way to Victoria Park to eat lunch. We then went to The Tannery, which is a modern shopping center converted from an old 19^th century tannery. There were a wide variety of shops including a bookstore, fabric store, numerous clothing stores, a flower shop, and a bakery. Many of the shops sold items made exclusively in Christchurch or other parts of New Zealand. 

After a little shopping, we met up at the movie theater in the shopping center to see the film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which was written and directed by Taika Waititi and filmed in New Zealand. The film tells the story of a foster boy who embarks on an adventure in the New Zealand forest with his caretaker while running from the police and Child Welfare. The film was funny and heartwarming, and all of us enjoyed it immensely.

- Grace