Christchurch in ruins

Dawnbreaker
Lars Alfredson
Fri 27 Jun 2014 08:45
Pos 43:32S 172:40E
Christchurch When we visited Christchurch we were expecting some work going on but not a complete Central part of Christchurch like a Ghost town. The buildings were all closed down and abandoned, every single one. The only one opened was a shopping Mall where the Tram ran right through the middle of the building. There wasn't one person in the Mall and on the Tram there was one person from The Netherlands sitting behind the driver getting the story of "The Earthquake's of September 4th 2010 and February 22 2011." The Earthquake of 2010 had over 2500 aftershock's in 1 year and the Earthquake on February 22 2011 killed 185 people and left buildings badly damaged or destroyed in the Cathedral Square which was the heart of the city. It was terrible. It looked like there had been a war. Many companies never recovered and alot moved out of Christchurch even though building has started. We saw around a dozen men working and it is 3 years later. Walls of old buildings are being kept but the rest of the building is missing. The landmark Cathedral was damaged very badly, loosing windows and an old part of the Church is in ruins. ![]() ![]() The Tram with it's one passanger. The Mall, shops are open but no people. ![]() ![]() The Government Building, abandoned. High rise buildings, abandoned ![]() ![]() The Cathedral badly damaged. Trying to hold the Cathedral up with scaffolding. Some parts like the Art pieces and trees survived the Earthquakes. One piece that we liked is the "Chalice sculpture" which celebrates the new millenium and the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Christchurch. ![]() ![]() The Front doors of the Cathedral The "Chalice sculpture" ![]() ![]() One building left, the others gone. Buildings that had underground parking are now filled with water ![]() A Wall of Historic meaning, kept upright with containers. ![]() ![]() A smaller church kept together with scaffolding Cardboard fronts to show what is missing. The Botanical Gardens also suffered damage in the Greenhouse where many of the plants are held in other make shift buildings until the Greenhouse is repaired. Most of the trees surrounding the Gardens were not damaged at all or only lost a few branches. ![]() ![]() The Entrance to the Botanical Gardens Flowering Cabbages make a lovely arrangement. ![]() ![]() A Rododendrum Tree. This tree had no damage at all It will take an awful lot of work to bring Cathedral Square back to what it was. Most of those that lost their lives are remembered. Most died while working and in the High rise buildings. Lessons have been learned and hopefully in 5 years Christchurch will once again be great. Love Caroline and Lars x |