RachelSquirrel

An Australian living in Scotland who loves cargo bikes

Rachel M in Earthquakes July 5, 2013 516 Words

Photos from Christchurch

Ben went to Christchurch for a few days this week and spent some time cycling around and taking photos. This is what he saw.

bikelane — A new bike lane. This is how bike lanes should be: separated from the road, pedestrians and parked cars.

museum — The museum: still standing and open.

bridge — There used to be a bridge across the river here. This is what the first earthquake did to it – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Medway_Bridge_76.jpg

bus — In the absence of places to set up a cafe, put the cafe in a bus.

cathedral — The Christchurch Cathedral frozen in time while the church, the council and the people of Christchurch fight over its fate. I think it should be left as it is, as both a memorial to the victims of the earthquake and a reminder of the power of earthquakes. Make it safe. Let the tourists in.

cbd — The centre of town looking very bare indeed. There don’t seem to be many people around but Ben tells me they’re all behind him.

chimney — An abandoned home. Chimney resting in the same place since February 22nd, 2011.

churchMerivale — A church in Merivale not far from our old home. Still waiting to be repaired.

field — This is the park down the road from our old house. The kids played here and we went for many dog walks here. Before the earthquake it was completely flat and entirely grass. The earthquake created undulations and streams and ponds.

garage — The garage of an abandoned home.

house1 — Another abandoned home.

house2 — And another abandoned home.

park — The same park down the road from our old home with a new bridge to go with the new stream the earthquake made.

sign — The people living on the east side of Christchurch are so used to bumpy roads that someone has made this warning for a smooth one.

church — The Baptist Church on the plaque once stood in this spot.

holytrinity — This is where the Holy Trinity Avonside once stood. Gone forever. For pictures of what it looked like see – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Trinity_Avonside

newregent — New Regent Street open again but with lots of empty shops.

polyhedra — Polyhedra at the University of Canterbury.

pomeroys — Pomeroys is alive and kicking with only a scar on the front left.

road — Damaged road – Avonside Drive.

8 thoughts on “Photos from Christchurch”

Frances says:

July 5, 2013 at 11:38 pm

Wow. It looks beautiful, somewhat repaired and lived-in, yet still eerie – especially the abandoned houses. I remember going to that park when we came over just before Elizabeth was born, and playing with Daniel on the slide. It looks very different now.

Reply
cvdanes says:

July 6, 2013 at 5:23 am

Looks like Christchurch is slowly coming back to life 🙂

Reply
Rachel says:

July 6, 2013 at 6:08 am

That’s interesting. I saw the photos and felt sad. The abandoned homes, the vacant CBD, the broken churches still waiting to be repaired.

Reply
Eve Spence says:

July 6, 2013 at 8:29 am

Thanks for those fascinating photos, Ben, although I felt very sad looking through them. I remember that Baptist church very well as we used to pass it on our way into the city from Linwood, or maybe cycled past it a few times. It always looked so solid as though it would be there forever….and then the lovely homes with no one living in them..

Reply
Bronwyn M says:

July 7, 2013 at 5:07 pm

Thanks for posting these. Sad to see the abandoned houses and the empty CBD. I’d find these scenes hard to live with day by day as they’d be a constant reminder of the earthquakes.

Reply
argentumvulgaris says:

August 7, 2013 at 1:58 am

Being an ex-pat from Chch living in Brazil, I missed the earthquakes, but heard a lot about them from family. These are the best photos I have seen of the aftermath, thank you.

AV

Reply
1. Rachel says:
  
  August 7, 2013 at 2:21 am
  
  I’m glad you liked them. Christchurch is not the city it used to be. There is no city centre anymore and so many of the beautiful buildings are gone. It’s very sad.
  
  Reply
  1. argentumvulgaris says:
    
    August 9, 2013 at 10:10 pm
    
    Mum remarked several times that I simply wouldn’t recognise the place now, and that she found driving (she was 89) difficult without familiar landmarks for navigation.
    
    I don’t think I would like to return now.
    
    AV

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