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The story of post-quake Christchurch is the story of a place where citizens have had to make hard decisions about what a 21st-century city looks like… what to take or leave… and what to do with the residue of tragedy.

What's resulted is a city in constant search of renewal: of its waterways, its built environment, and its history.

In this episode, we'll be tracing the bends of the Avon/Ōtākaro, understanding how local music supported disaster recovery and seeing how this city is shedding its neo-Gothic architectural skin.

Stay put for a bonus trip to Lyttelton, a stunning bohemian port town about a 20-minute drive from the centre of Christchurch. It's been responsible for nurturing the sound of musicians including Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding and Nadia Reid.

Explore New York at it's most ordinary: a walk through Manhattan in search of snacks, a garbage bin and a hot dog.

It's a place known to Australians for its beer, beach and massage; others are drawn to it as a place of spiritual solace. But what is the real Bali like? Is there such a thing?

London is a layer cake of history — and we're burrowing in deep. We're purely going to stay underground to reveal bigger stories about this storied capital.

But the thing is, the further deep you go, the newer the city's subterranean structures get. It's archaeology in reverse.

Pack your bags! Come with us on a journey of the mind…to destinations both near and far-flung, the familiar and the unexpected… in search of what the tourist never sees. An armchair travel show that scratches the surface of the world around us.