JUST SAY "CHRISTCHURCH"

I was invited to speak at the Regional Conference in Christchurch at the weekend. Some of you attended the Waikato Conference a couple of weeks ago. It was a pleasure to be the guest of the Rangiora Bridge Club and to meet bridge players from a different region and hear how their clubs are faring. And so that was how I got to meet "Curly Shirley" of NZ Bridge Magazine fame and she was kind enough to billet me and take me on a tiki tour of Christchurch CBD. I had not been there since the earthquakes. Here are some pictures of the things I saw:
Building site 1
Building site 2
Cranes, building sites but also empty spaces everywhere. No shortage of parking anymore - just pull into an area cleared of a building that used to be standing there.
Old Cathedral
Old Cathedral 2
Old Cathedral 4
Old Cathedral 6
An entrance way to the cathedral has a floral display.
Old Cathedral 5
Old Cathedral 3
Cathedral Square 2
Cathedral Square
Cardboard cathedral
Cardboard Cathedral 2
Cardboard cathedral 3
This makeshift cathedral was light and airy.
Cardboard cathedral 4
Cardboard Cathedral 5
Calendar Girls
Apparently the place to be in an earthquake ... perhaps the earth was already moving for those inside! No windows for privacy and not damaged as a consequence.
Arts Centre 3
I remember visiting here as a tourist when I first came to NZ, having breakfast in one of the cafes and going to a little cinema within the centre and shopping in the market. They are rebuilding it.
Arts Centre 4
Arts Centre 1
Arts Centre 2
Arts Centre 5
Rubble
Plenty of this everywhere
Rubble 2
Demolition
CTV
The site where the CTV building used to stand.
CTV2
Empty chairs
Opposite a piece of modern art. 185 empty chairs for each person who died in the Christchurch earthquake.
Empty chairs 2
Very moving.
Empty chairs 3
Sheep
Modern art popping up everywhere.
Sheep 2
Giraffe 2
Walk tall campaign
Giraffe
Keep your head held high.
Greening the rubble 2
Greening the rubble
New Regent Street
Amazingly New Regent St untouched - they held each other together.
New Regent Street 2
Market stalls
Market stalls 2
Container shops
So it was an interesting trip. I have been moaning too much about Cambridge turning into cone city. As they put SH1 through with their by-pass I have done nothing but whinge about the road closures and the sight of endless cones. I am never complaining about cones again. As soon as I start ... please ... just say, "Christchurch".