Gems emerging from gutsy Cantabs helping region find its feet

Wading through flooded Christchurch streets in murky waist-high water with a damp notepad tucked into my overalls is about the furthest I’ve gone for a story.

Not the furthest literally – that would be during a week-long stint in Marlborough – but it’s about where I draw the line. It only slightly beats out exercising while strapped to wires sending impulses, similar to mini electric shocks or sharp surges of pins and needles, directly to my muscles.

I’ve watched fires ravage houses in the Port Hills, documented my journey to running in the Summer Starter and, by the end of a shift, become an expert in topics I hadn’t heard of that morning.

It’s fair to say it’s been a busy couple of years as a breaking news reporter for The Press. It’s in that vein that I intend to go on, taking over the Ka¯ toitoi page from Jack Fletcher.

In the year since Ka¯ toitoi launched, he’s shared conversations with creatives and collaborators, chatted with inspiring individuals and gained insights into unexpected places to eat, visit and sleep.

In a city finding its feet and rebuilding its character, and with new businesses popping up weekly, there are plenty more treasures to be uncovered.

Hidden spots to spend a weekend relaxing, thriving places to enjoy an afterwork drink, and the people and establishments shaping the post-quake vibe will continue to fill the page.

There will also be room to document the entertainment hubs bringing the hum back to the central city and ventures further afield encouraging city folk to be a tourist in their own country, exploring the great sights Canterbury and the rest of the South Island have to offer.

This year, major projects such as The Welder, an artisan-style eatery and heath and wellbeing centre on Welles St, and the Riverside Market will introduce dozens more vendors with quirky and innovative goods for the tastebuds, body and soul to Christchurch. Who will fill those spots?

We’ll give you the rundown on trendy eats, such as where to get the best fermented foods and drinks – think how to get your hands on kombucha, kefir and other buzz products on the market – as well as the people behind the brands.

Creatives and aspiring entertainers are wowing crowds at the World Buskers Festival (which started on Thursday) as they will at Nostalgia Festival (February

16), and readers can expect to hear the inside word about gallery exhibitions, annual events such as the Night Noodle Markets (February 6-17) and the Christchurch Lantern Festival (February

22-24). If you know a trendy Cantabrian with the inside word on the coolest things to see and do in the region, get in touch by emailing maddison.northcott@stuff.co.nz