Christchurch since the 2011 quake

---

This was probably a pretty city prior to the quake, but there is now sadly lots of areas which time and money have not allowed to be rebuilt. It is happening slowly but there are lots of car parking places which are essentially where buildings were and still have not been redeveloped since the devastating earthquake of 2011. Both the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals were severely damaged and still have not been rebuilt. The Anglican Cathedral has suffered from too much political interference which has cost money and delayed whatever the plans are. The Catholic rebuild has been thwarted by the Church buying a plot of land which has now been colonised by rare birds so they are not allowed to build on it! Regent street, which is a pretty street of shops with balconied buildings thankfully survived. The Art Gallery is an amazing building which looks wonky so it doesn't matter if there is a quake it will still look normal! The art inside was very modern and somewhat conceptual. We caught the Tram which is a 50min ride all round if you stay on it and is hop on and hop off with commentary from the driver so good way to get around. Weather-wise we were told it would be warm, but a cold easterly wind spoiled all that and the sun didn't come out till we were back on the ship. Several people have left the ship today. I think some of the Americans are scared because of the corona virus and the fact that Trump is threatening to stop anyone entering America. We had a patient who had to be evacuated from the ship at Dunedin and delayed our departure by 2 hours. This was because Dunedin has only 2 ambulances and the one that was heading to the ship was diverted away to a case which was more urgent. The Captain apologised for the delay which meant that we could not pass by the island with Albatrosses nesting on it in the day light and even said over the tannoy " Don't get ill in Dunedin!" We won at Trivia despite losing one of our team who was part of the entertainment team and had to get off and fly back home to England. To be honest Stefan and I answered all the questions and got 18 out of 20! Brain cells obviously need alcohol to thrive!

---