If you’re heading to the South Island of New Zealand, definitely spend a few days in the city. There’s still plenty to do, and you’ll be supporting the new businesses inspiring Christchurch’s renaissance.Note that there is considerable demand for Christchurch accommodation, and booking ahead is strongly recommended. The city has been experiencing aftershocks, though latest reports suggest they could be (finally) moving away from the city

Addington is also the city’s new hub for live entertainment. Christchurch’s iconic Court Theatre has relocated into a restored warehouse and Dux Live has opened as a music venue. Look forward to a combination of beers from the Dux de Lux microbrewery and local and overseas acts. From April 2012, rugby fans can watch Christchurch’s beloved Crusaders at their new home ground in Addington.To the west in Sydenham, the Honeypot Café and Burgers & Beer are both popular refugees from the still-closed Central Business District (CBD), and we’ve also heard rumours of new restaurants and arthouse cinemas opening up nearby. Across in Addington, the buzz is about the planned redevelopment of the Wood’s Mill heritage building as a hip bar and restaurant precinct.

Bringing commercial life back to the fringe of the CBD, the RE:Start development showcases almost 30 retailers in a colourful labyrinth on Cashel Mall. Iconic Christchurch shops like Scorpio Books and Johnson’s Grocery have been joined by New Zealand’s best designers; free wi-fi and robust coffee from alfresco cafes are other essential distractions.Later at night the shipping container action shifts to bars like Revival – complete with its own Middle Eastern food truck – and Cargo in Addington. Elsewhere in a rapidly changing city, you might see containers being used as hip street corner Thai restaurants or funky Japanese noodle bars.Christchurch’s new social hubs While the beleaguered CBD remains shuttered behind the Red Zone cordon, other establishments are emerging as essential socialising hubs for Christchurch locals. For the best coffee in town, head to the Addington Coffee Co-op or the cool Black Betty perched on the edge of High St, the city’s former hip shopping precinct. More grungy is the bohemian Beat Street Café at 324 Barbadoes St, and for the city’s best brunch grab an alfresco table at Under the Red Veranda.For a stronger tipple, head to Pomeroy’s Old Brewery Inn, a hoppy shrine to NZ’s great craft beer scene (and home to Christchurch's best pub food), or make the short trek to Woolston and the Cassels & Sons Brewery. For cocktails, wine and tapas, the Volstead Trading Company and The Monday Room are both popular recent additions to the Christchurch bar scene.Best eating Some of Christchurch’s pre-earthquake restaurants have relocated to suburbs around the fringe of the CBD, but many are frozen in time awaiting the rebuild. The Bodhi Tree, NZ’s only Burmese restaurant, has reopened in Fendalton, and Chinwag Eathai fills a buzzy space with innovative Thai food and potent cocktails. Surrounding Victoria St is one of Christchurch’s emerging ‘eat streets’, with an expanding range of bars and restaurants.Equally tasty, but more virtuous is the vegetarian and Indian-influenced food at The Lotus Heart, now relocated from Cathedral Square.Other essential Christchurch foodie destinations include the Christchurch Farmers' Market, held Saturday mornings year round, and on Wednesday evenings from November to April (you’ll find the friendly Simo - of Simo's Deli - dishing up traditional Moroccan flavors at the weekly market). Another excellent farmers’ market is in the historic suburb of Lyttelton, badly damaged in the earthquakes, but now bouncing back with remarkable community spirit. Don’t miss playing a few ends at the Lyttelton Petanque Club, a development from the Gap Filler Charitable Trust, a community initiative that’s reinvigorating derelict spaces around Christchurch.