We have heard that a couple have gone missing - we'll attempt to fix this in the next few days.
The project ends Friday, 6th May 2022.
- Earthquake Memorial - Avon River bank opposite Memorial cnr Oxford Tce and Montreal.
- O-Tautahi /The Bricks - The Green beside Barbadoes Street bridge
- Richmond - Near new Medway Bridge
- Avonside - River bank opposite old Avonside Girls' High School and the Climate Campus
- St Albans - Starting at Abberley Park and moving around the neighbourhood
- Burwood/Avondale - Avondale Bridge River bank
- New Brighton - Owles Tce River bank near pontoon and letterbox sculpture
- South Shore/South New Brighton - End of Estuary road by the parking area
- Moncks Bay - Te Raekura Beachville Reserve next to Coastal Pathway
- Woolston - Woolston Radley Park
- Beckenham - On the Riverbank just below Beckenham ponds entrance in Eastern Terrace
- Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) - Heathcote River bank opposite PMH
" Ka rawe! What a wonderful idea."
"Love it!' "Super cool" "I love the old school phones too"
"What a beautiful kindness you are sharing"
"I used one to have a moan to me old mate who lost his life in this particular area. Was good to have a vent. Thank you."
"This is so cute. *name* can we go find some!"
If you or someone you know is struggling, there is free help available. Call or text 1737 to speak with a trained counsellor anytime - it’s free and completely confidential. You can also call Lifeline on 0800 543354 or text HELP to 4357.
Check out our friends at All Right? for more support ideas.
This is a spin off project of River of Flowers. Thanks to Christchurch City Council funding.
Call Nature on our River Phones
After the Japanese tsunami in 2011, a gentlemen set up a telephone box in his back garden. He had lost his cousin in the tsunami who he missed terribly. So he would use his disconnected telephone to talk to his cousin in his grief. Soon after people started to approach him to ask if they could use his phone to deal with their grief, loss and feelings through tough times.
In Otautahi, Christchurch we've had very tough times as a city and that's on top of the everyday challenges we all face. Multiple earthquakes, dealing with insurance, a terrorist attack, flooding, wildfires and now the pandemic. Phew, its been hard.
So we've decided to put phones along our rivers, so you too, can talk your troubles away.
Twelve phones can be found at our River of Flowers sites alongside the Avon-Ōtākaro, Heathcote-Ōpāwaho or the Estuary- Ihutai waterways. Feel free to use our special river phones to share your worries, concerns, grief or whatever you’re dealing with right now. Not everyone has someone to talk to or someone they can safely tell everything to. Hop on a phone, talk to the river and let your burden lighten as it floats away.
We hope that the river phone installations help the working through of tough feelings through connecting with nature and our rivers. Being in and connecting with Nature is now well known to improve our wellbeing and mental health. We can all do with feeling a bit better.
Hunt, Find, Explore the Tables around our city! Can you find them?! Share on social media using #riverphones
River Phones Sites: