Christchurch - the rebuild
April 23 2013
The first morning of my recent trip to N.Z was spent in Christchurch.
I was shocked to see the city again post the 6.3 magnitude earthquake of February 22, 2011.
I remember the CBD as old english, the city of churches, beautiful parks and trams crisscrossing the streets. It now resembles a bruised and battered city... on the slow rebuild.
Two years on and there are still no go zones, streets closed off and construction quietly happening in the background.
Every empty lot resembles an area that once was a tall building, that is no more.
There are still buildings standing that need to come down as they are declared unsafe.
Here are some of the shots from the CBD.
The famous cathedral sits in the middle of a no go zone.
Most of the shops are now set up in sea containers, it was quicker to do it this way and people feel a lot safer in these.
The first morning of my recent trip to N.Z was spent in Christchurch.
I was shocked to see the city again post the 6.3 magnitude earthquake of February 22, 2011.
I remember the CBD as old english, the city of churches, beautiful parks and trams crisscrossing the streets. It now resembles a bruised and battered city... on the slow rebuild.
Two years on and there are still no go zones, streets closed off and construction quietly happening in the background.
Every empty lot resembles an area that once was a tall building, that is no more.
There are still buildings standing that need to come down as they are declared unsafe.
Here are some of the shots from the CBD.
The famous cathedral sits in the middle of a no go zone.
Most of the shops are now set up in sea containers, it was quicker to do it this way and people feel a lot safer in these.
There are no trams, no traffic, no parking meters, no buses, most of the businesses are cafes getting by selling to the construction crews.
There is a memorial set up with white chairs, 185 of them each representing a person that lost their lives in the earthquake.
There are still reminders scattered everywhere, flowers on fences, little messages written on stones, and poems.
They are building a new "cardboard" cathedral in the vacant lot that used to be the Holden caryard.
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