It was quite a lot colder in Christchurch with a definite chill in the air. This didn't stop us going on an evening walk to explore the city though. We hadn't anticipated what we found at all, there was so much construction, so many building sites, no 'city centre' and no buildings taller than a few storeys. This was all post the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, neither of which Amy and I had appreciated were so significant before coming here.
It was quite sad to see all the torn down buildings and derelict areas, people's places of work, people's homes, all grounded. It was as if the place had been bombed, or a nuclear disaster had happened and left the place deserted
We went to visit the memorial, 185 chairs, all of personal significance to each person that lost their lives in the earthquake. There were wheelchais, baby chairs, office chairs and arm chairs, all in the grounds of the old television centre.
Some really touching words in tribute were written on the plaque
We visited the Re:start mall. A shopping precinct made out of shipping containers in an attempt to rejuvenate the retail district. The container mall had a coo food court and lots of quirky little shops.
It started to get a bit gloomy so we grabbed a drink and headed to the Quake museum to learn abot the events that surrounded he earthquake. This was very sobering and heart warming as we heard the eye witness accounts of what happened that day.
In the evening we headed for dinner at C1 espresso. We had heard about this place from many of our friends who had visited Christchurch, on exploring the city not only was it a novel place it also seemed like one of the only places that was fully functioning as a restaurant!
You order at the counter, and your food is subsequently delivered by pneumatic tube! We didn't really know what this would mean but sat down next to what looked like the podding system from the hospitals and waited with anticipation!
The tube system along the ceiling
Our table
We heard a rush of air and the chime of a bell, my food had been delivered in this capsule! We grabbed it out of the tube and stared at it, unsure how to open it and a bt too sheepish to admit our confusion!
Inside was a handful of curly fries and three teeny gluten free burgers
Waiting for her tube!!
The burgers were small but all good things come in small packages! They were so yummy!
Afterwards we treated ourselves to cake. It only seemed appropriate to go for the hypodermic coulis needle lamington! I injected it 'right in the heart' as instructed
Very delicious.
All in all we had a good time in Christchurch. It wasn't what we'd expected and the evidence from the quake seemed more obvious than the damage from the much more recent cyclone in Vanuatu. We'd be really interested to come back in a few years to see how far they've come from this current state of construction.
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