According to influential global magazine Foreign Policy, Christchurch is destined to become one of the world’s best cities.

But those of us who live there already think it is.

Sure, the city might have the shakes and look a little worse for wear.

Despite this, Christchurch has maintained its character and grace and sense of humor.

Lonely Planet writer Brett Atkinson, in town for a couple of weeks to update the Christchurch chapter of Lonely Planet’s New Zealand guide, discovered that a lot had changed since his last visit to the city.

The bars, cafes, and restaurants that he had written about for the 2010 edition of Lonely Planet New Zealand were no longer open. The February earthquake had made sure of that, as well as destroying many of the hotels listed in that guide.

Instead, Atkinson found a city that was reinventing itself.

Bars and cafes were popping up in unexpected places.

A whole new social hub, dubbed SoMo (south of Moorhouse Ave), has risen from the ruins and is now home to Christchurch’s iconic Court Theater (usually housed in the Art Center) and numerous cafes and bars.

Highlighting innovative actions such as the ‘gap filler’ and the container mall projects, Atkinson has labeled Christchurch one of New Zealand’s most exciting cities (a statement that warms the hearts of die-hard Cantabrians who have always felt a little like the ‘poor cousin’ to capital city Wellington and super-city Auckland).

To find out more, have a read of Atkinson’s 48 page post-quake Christchurch and Canterbury chapter that Lonely Planet is offering as a free download.

The chapter will eventually be inserted into the 16^th edition of the New Zealand guidebook (to be published in September).

Christchurch is rocking again but this time with laughter as the annual World Buskers Festival takes center stage this week.

More than 50 highly versatile and talented buskers from around the world are setting up their pitch and strutting their stuff in some of the most colorful, musical, and flexible ways.

From contortionists to ventriliquists, knife throwers to knife swallowers, jugglers to dancers, rappers to hip hop, they have put one aim – to get people smiling and shaking with laughter.

Past years have seen street performers from around the world set up their portable stages in Cathedral Square, the City Mall, and the Art Center.

But in post-earthquake Christchurch, that’s just not possible.

Instead, the organizers has created a mini-village in Hagley Park (the city’s new ‘cultural’ city center), complete with numerous stages, stalls, and even a ‘container’ garden wine bar.

This year’s line up includes many of the city’s favorites – Mullethead, Rubberband Boy, and the open-air Street Circus – name but a few.

There’s even a small 52 seat theater tent (Le Tigre Bleu) set amongst the trees. Close to show times, an old-time carnival barker entices the crowds to enter, promising everything from mime to burlesque.

If this doesn’t get the people of Christchurch shaking with laughter, I’m not sure what will.

Hidden behind dense bush and forest, many a spectacular waterfall is missed by those traveling New Zealand’s highways and byways.

The Marakopa Falls, just 30 kilometers west of Waitomo Caves, is one such waterfall.  Like many of the waterfalls in New Zealand, the Marakopa Falls were formed by an earthquake fault that forces the river water to intially bound along small steps and then plunge down the forested cliff.

Access to the falls is easy. A lookout built at the top of the hill provides an overview of the falls.  But if you want to get up close and personal, a short walk through the forest will get you close enough to feel the spray across you face

The Bridal Veil Falls, located 21 kilometers south of the small surfing town of Raglan on the west coast of the North Island, is yet another spectacular waterfall that has been enthralling travellers for decades.

As far back as 1898, a Lands and Survey report was advising visitors not to miss these waterfalls.

There is a track that will lead you to a lookout that offers a view of the quietly meandering Pakoka stream as it disappears through a gap in the fern and transforms into a thundering casade plummeting over a steep cliff into a rocky basin. Having dropped 55 meters, the water than continues to meander along the stream.

For an even more dramatic view, hike another ten minutes down a fairly steep path to the waterfall basin. Here, the misty spray from water cascading over a moss-covered ridge evokes images of fine white lace, giving meaning to the name ‘Bridal Veil Falls.’

To discover more of New Zealand’s spectacular waterfalls, get a hold of a copy of Walks to Waterfalls: 100 New Zealand Waterfalls by Russell Kirkpatrick.

(Image credits: Marokopa Falls via flickr  xoque; Bridal Veil Falls via flickr Angela Bethell)

If I could spend a day going all over New Zealand, here is where I’d go and what I’d do providing I had instant transport from one place to another and an unlimited budget.

Morning

Wake up at:

» The Rose Room at the zany Giant’s House in Akaroa, or

» The Sea Room at Larnach Castle on the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, or

»  In an eco suite at Punakaiki Resort near the spectacular Pancake Rocks and Blow Holes on the South Island’s West Coast, or

» The Dolphin Suite at The Hay Paddock in Waiheke Island

Spend the morning:

» on the vintage steamship TSS Ernshaw cruising around Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown or

» wandering around Te Papa museum, Wellington or

» walking the glaciers at Franz Joseph on the South Island’s West Coast or

» Going airborne in a hot-air ballooning over Wairarapa

Lunch:

» at the Brew Moon Café & Brewery just north of Christchurch or

» at the waterfront café & bar at the Voyager maritime museum in Auckland or

» wine, dine, and play petanque or archery at Wild on Waiheke in Waiheke Island

Afternoon

Spend the afternoon:

» sampling whiskey and learning about prohibition at the Moonshine Museum in Gore or

» putting on a hard hat and going underground at the glowworm caves in Waitomo or

» restocking the wine rack while biking around the vines in Hawkes Bay or

» climbing the Auckland Harbour Bridge, Auckland

Mid-afternoon snack:

» high tea at the Langham in Auckland

» coffee at the newly created container city in Christchurch

Evening

Sunset at:

» a beach anywhere in New Zealand

Dinner:

»  on the terrace at The Bathhouse in Queenstown or

»  with a moving view at the Orbit Revolving Resaurant at Sky tower, Auckland

»  fine dining at Logan Brown in Wellington

Wrap it up with:

» star gazing at Mount John Observatory, Tekapo

In Christchurch, New Zealand it’s the day after Christmas
and all through the house, no one is moving,
not even the house.

It had been a different sight just two days before
when the ground started shaking
and we all ran, yet again, for the door.

The Christmas tree, decorated so beautifully just that morning,
jumped up in the air and fell on it’s side,
It’s decorations scattered far and wide.

Shocked and dismayed, we yelled and we screamed
at Mother Nature ‘to please just leave us be’.
After thousands of shakes over this past year,
surely, especially around Christmas, we deserved a reprieve.

A break in the shakes all that we requested,
instead what we got was simply stronger shakes
causing many more breaks and many more tears
in the homes throughout this broken town.

But despite this latest shake sequence
Santa didn’t let us down
There might not be any chimneys left in this town
but still Santa managed to deliver and on time.

Kids, big and small, awoke to the sight
of Xmas trees glowing with glitter and lights
standing perfectly upright
And with plenty of Santa presents hidden underneath.

Gifts were exchanged with much laughter and tears,
and Mother Nature decided to play nice
by limiting her multiple shakes and tremors
To only magnitude four or three.

And so now it’s the day after Christmas
And all through the house,
No one is stirring
Not even the house.

And everyone in Christchurch no doubt
now has but one wish - for a shake-free New Year!