Christchurch visit: Holes, carparks and damaged buildings

Having not been to Christchurch since the big earthquakes, there were a few things that stuck me as 'very odd indeed' in a city.

The first was the number of still cordoned off buildings. It's a bit weird to think that a couple of years after the earthquakes, there are still a many buildings which are cordoned off, doomed to destruction or awaiting a decision about whether to try and save them. On one hand it seems very slow 'progress'... on the other, it was a huge event, so it's not surprising.

Secondly, there are a lot of carparks! Sad when you think that there used to be buildings on these spots, but I guess at least the space is being used.

Next up are the number of holes where buildings used to stand. Some of these have been 'remediated' as best as I guess they can for now, and some of them have just had the rubble removed, but the remains of the basement structure left.

One place I should have taken photos of but didn't was the 'restart mall', which comprises a lot of [heavily modified] shipping containers... lots of higher-end shops, plus banks, food outlets and the like - pretty much everything you would expect to see in a city mall.

Anyway, here are the photos... hopefully fairly self-explanatory...

Christchurch visit: The Cathedral

I visited Christchurch yesterday, and thanks to my 'tour guides' Mel and Andrew, I got a good look around. I hadn't been to Christchurch for many years [and certainly well before the big earthquakes in 2010 and 2011], so I was very interested to see the CBD and surrounds.

This first post shows the damage to the old cathedral in Cathedral Square. It's just like the pictures in the media, although somewhat larger when I'm standing right there.

The first photo is the entrance to the viewing area at the front of the cathedral. The next two are the cathedral itself. The final picture is the temporary 'cardboard cathedral'... looking good!

The Brooklyn Wind Turbine

It's a public holiday today and despite the less than ideal weather, I decided to get out of the house and go do something. This ended up being a visit to the Brooklyn Wind Turbine.

You'll see a couple of things from the photos... I'm not particularly skilled at photographing the scenery nor coping with bad light [I think I do much better with photographing planes...!].

Anyway, the Brooklyn Wind Turbine was [according to its owner, Meridian Energy] New Zealand's first viable commercial turbine. As you see in the photos, there is a small information display and a bit of shelter for when it's windy [which is most days...] :-)