Christchurch Special!

 So finally, I'm getting around to putting up my photos from Christchurch. Apologies for the delay. Please note that most of these were taken in Spring, so you may see people wearing more layers than now. Having said that, the city seems to do Crowded House's 4 seasons in one day anyway!

For those of you unfamiliar with Christchurch, it's a city on the south island of New Zealand.

© https://www.roughguides.com/maps/australasia/new-zealand/

There are far fewer people on the South Island (most people actually live in the Auckland region.) It's incredibly flat compared to Auckland but there are hills nearby. 

In February 2011, Christchurch was hit by an earthquake that killed 185 people and destroyed the city. What strikes you when you see Christchurch now is that there are loads of gravel car parks - but these used to be buildings. We saw an excellent film whilst we were there about the re-building of the city and it's really worth a watch if you get a chance. It's called "When a city rises". The new hospital, like many buildings has special seismic equipment which was a bit thought-provoking when I was working there. This was in the basement level:

Apart from the gravel car parks, the people of Christchurch have really tried to beautify their city with people and eco-friendly design and lots of art. Here is a taster.

In addition to the street art, there are some awesome galleries and a few outdoor sculptures, including this one by Anthony Gormley!

There is a patchwork of Maori mosaics around the city too which are beautiful. Here is one example:

So a taste of Christchurch. 

New Zealanders are rightly proud of their beautiful country but they try to make even the most mundane objects more beautiful. It is common to find telephone fuse boxes painted by local artists, such as this one in Auckland.