Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch about a week after the first of two major earthquakes struck the city in 2010.  Much of downtown was open but many things were already laying in ruin.  A few months after we left, another earthquake struck and leveled much of what had already been damaged.

Relaying streetcar tracks.

 

 

Lots of closed roads in the downtown.

 

That building is no more.

A nice pedestrian area.

 

 

I understand this church was leveled in the second quake.

Chess players.

The tram system was very cute.

That steeple collapsed in the second earthquake.

More road work.

Replacing things underground.

A sweet little gasoline-powered bicycle/motorcycle.

Mannequins repelling off of a building.

Lots of things fallen down everywhere.

That building is gone now.

 

Tearing down a building.

Bricks fallen off of a building.

No one would have ever seen that graffiti had it not been for the earthquake.

A shop that wasn’t picked up yet.

Relaying rails and streets.

Lots of work to get the trams back in service.

A black swan.  Rather ominous if you ask me.

 

Timaru

 

We stopped for a break in Timaru on our drive northward.  No skateboarding allowed here.

 

 

 

Out on the beach.

 

 

 

We found a crab chilling out.

 

We chilled out, too.