Christchurch: Empty Chairs


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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch
December 14th 2012
Published: December 15th 2012
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We said goodbye to the Maui at lunchtime today and warmly thanked it (and Freda, I guess) for getting us around South Island safely. I headed for the city centre and strolled in the park (which reminds me very much of the park in the centre of Cardiff) to the Botanic Gardens. It is a really hot summer's day with temperatures soaring into the 30's. Phew! But there is a pleasant breeze which reduces the effect of the heat if you are in the shade. It is funny to experience hay fever symptoms on 14th December! The taxi driver asked "does it feel like Christmas?". It does not!

However, within half a mile of the beautiful botanic gardens is devastation! The centre of Christchurch is one gigantic building site. So many of the buildings that we're not destroyed on 22nd February 2011 are either shored up or in a state of demolition. The most upsetting is surely the Cathedral in the very centre. Much of it had been made earthquake proof before the earthquake -all except the tower and spire which is now no more. "Enjoy what's left while you can", said a local as I took my pictures. "They
Luxury flats?Luxury flats?Luxury flats?

Soon to be flat themselves!
say that it is all coming down soon but have not decided yet". I hope the don't and that one day (10 years they estimate!) I will come back to see the transformation.

In one open space, that was the site of the fallen Oxford Terrace. Baptist Church, 185 chairs, all painted white and of different sizes and shapes were lined up in rows in the open. This sculpture is called 'Empty Chairs" a reminder of the 185 who lost their lives on 22nd February 2011. Each chair is as individual as the next which pays tribute to the uniqueness of each person who died.

The poster read "Our building's gone but we are still here!"


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Devastation in the cityDevastation in the city
Devastation in the city

Earthquake proof buildings stand but have no access to them.


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