Theatre, music and new library

A walking festival takes place in Christchurch each year.  One of the walks we went on was through the red zone, a large area that previously was filled with houses.  The houses were damaged in the 2011 earthquakes and have been torn down.  The land now has been declared not suitable for building, but may be a large park or used for other purposes in the future.

Grass, trees and gardens, but no houses

We walked several kilometres along the Avon River and joined in on “Meet in the Middle” a festival at one of the city parks with food trucks, entertainment, information tables and dragon boat races.  

The headline entertainer at Meet in the Middle was Tiki Taane, a Maori man originally from Christchurch who now has made it as a solo artist performing dub music (reggae-based electronic music).  He was a crowd pleaser.

Tiki Taane performing

Last week we attended a performance by PostModern Jukebox at the Isaac Theatre Royal, one of the few brick buildings that survived the earthquakes.  The New York-based group had a lot of energy and talent, performing big-band versions of a variety of modern music.  

Members of PostModern Jukebox

The Isaac Theatre Royal at night

Mrs. Krishnan’s Party is a participatory play we attended along with friends.  The play was performed by the Indian Ink theatre company, a group that tells stories based on Indian cultures. Indian Ink was recently invited to perform at the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts in the US, so they may be coming to a venue near you.  If you get a chance definitely go see them.

A new central library, Tarunga, just opened this week in Christchurch and it truly is amazing.  It has everything from a recording studio to a sewing machine for embroidering your design on a patch you can sew onto your shirt.  Plus it has lots of books, a touch screen wall, a lego room and a slide.  

Christchurch Mayor cutting the ribbon to open the new library

View of the library stairs from the top floor

Recording studio at new library

Paul found a table tennis center this week and was able to play for a couple hours.  The center is a beautiful facility with 18 tables, leagues, coaching and social play sessions - plus a morning tea break in the middle of the session.

Cindy has been learning how to play Mahjong with friends. 

Mahjong tiles

Cindy practicing mahjong at home

Our friend Wil came over from Eau Claire to travel in New Zealand and is spending almost two weeks with us, including a week traveling to the south.  We'll post more on that trip soon.