Christchurch Collective

I spent a wonderfully sunny spring day walking around Christchurch. The first signs of blossom is on the trees. I had lunch in the sun in the lively container city - a complex of shops and cafes made of shipping containers - with busker and animal shaped topiary dotted about the place and quirky street art. It doesn't mask that this is a post-apocalyptic place. Large buildings stand isolated as there less sturdy neighbours have been pulled down. Twisted steel and concrete pillars stand like sculptures in derelict lots. Historic churches stand with no facades, bared to the world. Cordoned off shops feature detritus strewn on the floor. Unmoved since the quake. A town clock stands stopped at the time the quake hit. Seemingly normal streets stop abruptly opening up to vast dereliction.

Still, the cafe culture endures and I had a very pleasant pumpkin soup.