Christchurch

Headed up to Christchurch to visit some friends. The first day we went to the city center to the re-start mall. This was made after the earthquake. It is a mall made of shipping containers. We then went to the 184 white chairs. It is a memorial for the people who died during the 'quake. All of the chairs are painted white and arranged in rows. Across the street from that is the cardboard cathedral. It was also made after the 'quake destroyed the original one. It is made of shipping containers, cardboard, and wood. They were able to recover somethings from the old building to put in this one. We then walked by the old cathedral. It is surrounded by fencing and giant beams are helping support the building. There are still many buildings in that area that have not been touched since the 'quake. There are still the signs on them saying they are unsafe. There is also a lot of construction going on to tear down the destroyed parts and rebuild. You can tell that used to be a very popular part of the city but now it is nothing. They try to make it more cheerful by decorating the fences around destroyed buildings.

Beth took me to zumba that night at the gym at uni. It was a free class and they do not check ids at all. You just have to swipe it and walk it. It was a fun class and a fun way to end the night.

U. of Canterbury also uses shipping containers to make classrooms and campus bar because the originals were destroyed.

Her flat has tv so after dinner the guys she lives with turned on an American football game. I decided I like it here more because they cut out all of the stopping. No commercial breaks, no timeouts.

The next day I went out to Lincoln to visit Lauren who also goes to OSU. Lincoln is a really small suburb of Christchurch that has the uni, 1 supermarket, 1 gas station, a pie shop, and pharmacy. There are parts of the uni that are closed from the quake and people living in the dorms have to eat their meals in the gym. Lincoln also has the pitch for NZ national cricket team. If you go on the pitch you will get arrested.

The next day we got on the bus and came back to Dunedin. We did a few things around the city but nothing too exciting. We did go out to Sandfly Bay and did see a penguin as we headed back to the car after the sun set.

At the museum next to the uni here there is a hot house that's full of butterflies. So cool to go in there and have them fly about!

Pictures:

penguin

old cathedral

butterflies!

sunset at sandfly bay

outside of cathedral

inside cardboard cathedral

White chairs