Fallen

We went to Christchurch today.
We had a look around the inner city, which we weren't able to do last time we were there, a while ago.

There's still a lot of crumbling buildings around. I guess these things take time.
We also had a drive around one of the red zoned suburbs, and even had a look inside one of the houses (naughty, I know, but I wanted to see for myself). These houses looked like they would have been brand new at the time of the February 2011 earthquake. It was eerie seeing such new houses and suburbs completely abandoned, with overgrown lawns, and smashed windows. It must have been heartbreaking for the residents of those homes to leave them.

It's amazing though just what has sprouted up among the ruins. There's all sorts of interesting art everywhere, and the city centre is buzzing with the shipping container shops (that's shops in shipping containers - us kiwis are resourceful!) that have popped up.

This photo shows the Christchurch Cathedral. I thought it had been demolished, but I believe some people are still trying to save it, so we shall wait and see what happens with that.

It would be a shame to lose it.