We spent the day in Christchurch today. One thing that is most striking about the city is the amount of devestation that is still visible from the 2011 earthquake. According to our desk clerk, some 8000 buildings have been razed so far, and judging from the number of vacant lots, particularly around the downtown area, you'd have to believe that. In addition, there are reportedly some 1800 condemned buildings that are to be razed. Some of these are no surprise. Old stone or brick buildings really took a hit and that's really no surprise. But, there are a lot of newer building that look perfectly fine from the outside but have been condemned as unsafe.
One of the major buildings destroyed by the quake was the City Cathedral. We just got a glimpse of the building from the street, but you can see how badly it's been damaged:
We've seen pictures of the cathedral and it was really beautiful. The front of the building, where the steel structure is above, was where two tall spires once stood. Amazingy, though, the church has recovered in an interesting way. They have built a replacement cathedral known locally as the "Cardboard Cathedral". It's built of timbers and steel beams incased in large spiral-wound paper tubes and covered with translucent plastic panels. It was up and running in less than a year and stands on the site of another church that was also destroyed by the quake. We were amazed and how inspiring the church looks:
The inside of the cathedral was equally striking:
The supports in the ceiling are wood beams covered with the wound paper tubes that gives the cathedral its name. The cathedral is currently being used by two congregations from the Christchurch Cathedral and from the church that originally occupied the site before it was destroyed by the earthquake. The church is supposed to last at least 50 years.
Just around the corner from the Cathedral is the Memorial Chairs. It's an impromptu memorial to the 185 people who died in the quake, roughly 115 of whom died when one of the local TV station building pancaked. There are chairs for two babies and three children in the Memorial. The chairs were contributed by the families of the victims and each is different, reflecting the personality of each victim. Very moving:
The downtown business district was almost completely destroyed and many of the buildings are condemned and still standing. But they have bounced back and have built the "Container Mall" out of salvaged shipping containers. Interestingly, the same Japanese architect who designed the Cardboard Cathedral also designed the Container Mall. Here area a couple shots of the Container Mall...
We also took the Christchurch Gondola to the top of the Port Hills, a collapsed volcanic crater that overlooks Christchurch. It was a very nice ride up the hill and there were some great views of the surrounding area:
Christchurch, of course, is in the background.
On the way down the hill, we heard this fella calling to other sheep and looking out over his kingdom:
We didn't see any other sheep on the entire hillside...
Tomorrow, Pat has a special outing in the outback of New Zealand. Should be exciting!
Pat's Paragraph.......
A couple funny store names: Teasme, a specialty tea shop and Wine O'Clock
Some cute signs we saw today at the Container Mall...
OMG! My Mother was right about Everything!
Chocolate makes my jeans shrink.
Retirement: Twice as much husband, half as much income.
It takes a lot of balls to play golf like I do.
There is a 'fine' line between fishing and sitting by the river like an idiot.
If a man is standing in a remote New Zealand forest completely by himself and no woman is there to hear him speak, Is he still wrong? (yes, most likely) :-)
One of the things we learned today was that Lyttleton, a suburb on the huge harbor where all the shipping is done, was the point of outfitting and departure for all the famous Antarctic expeditions in the early 1900's. In 1912, Robert Falcon Scott left with his men to reach the South Pole. He made it to the Pole, but on his return journey, he and all his men, died tragically just a few short miles from their supplies. And they were not aware that Roald Amundsen had reached the Pole and returned safely, only weeks before their attempt. Ernest Shackleton also left from here. His ship and crew were trapped in ice a few miles from Antarctica for 9 months. The ship was crushed in the ice and sank, leaving them stranded. Shackleton took a life boat and began the 800 mile journey by sea to Island of South Georgia. This journey is celebrated as one of the greatest examples of human endurance and survival ever known. He made it to South Georgia alive and his men were rescued. It all began here.
