And this goofball, the Gallah. He is quite a character and had me dancing and laughing all the time!
HI Gaffa!
The two dogs are as cute as they come and full of energy. Lucky for them one of my favorite things to do is to go for a walk!
Such a lovely place to spend a month of my life... I like it here and love having the animals around. Me ol' mates, now adoptive parents (haha) from the South are coming up to stay with the permission of the homeowners! Yay! They want to show me around Christchurch and even Carole hasn't seen the damage since the big earthquakes 2 years ago.
More than two years ago in February 2011, a magnitude-6.3 earthquake hit the city, killing 185 people and injuring many more. I can only imagine what it was like to see the damage 2 years ago, but there is complete chaos even now in 2013.
Our first stop is the Brighton Pier. Interestingly, it stands just fine! I would have thought if anything would go down that thing would! There is a video on youtube that shows it waving, but like the weebles, it won't fall down! They temporarily closed it for a safety check, but quickly reopened. A real credit to the builders of this pier!
Brighton Pier, Christchurch
I feel heavy and sad here. I'm not comfortable walking around this city at all. I'm not putting the earthquake photos in here to make light of this place. I remember thinking as I'm walking around that I've been in some really rough countries on this journey. I've been in some really bad cities. But this one is the worst I've personally seen and it's not a fresh disaster. This is 2 years later!
For any building that might be open, the pipes are on the street for sewer and water. I'll let you pick, blue line or yellow line. Gotta throw in a bit of humor, even the Kiwi's will tell ya! The earthquake ripped up all infrastructure. The city nearly has to start rebuilding from scratch, starting with all new pipes. Which hasn't been done yet and needs to before the future new buildings can start connecting.
There were several churches we saw today that have steeples on the ground conserved for a future rebuild.
A LOT of buildings have been completely removed.. That in itself is unnerving to walk around these empty spaces where people made their livelihoods! The shipping containers are being used to save a historic building facade. I imagine if you are in the temporary fencing or shipping container business, you are one of the few doing really well in Christchurch!
I just saw this green building in the news. Somebody has bought it! Must be sentimental value here..
185 White Chairs "Reflection of Loss of Lives, Livelihoods and Living in Neighbourhood is an installation by Peter Majendie, standing on a vacant lot in the heart of Christchurch. Where a church once proudly stood, the 185 white chairs each represent one of the 185 lives lost in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
Each chair, just like its owner, has its own distinct personality, with the installation including armchairs, dining room chairs, a wheel chair, and even a baby capsule. The 185 square metres of grass that the chairs sit on represents new growth and regeneration – something which you can see and feel across the whole city. The artist’s statement poetically reminds us all that the ‘installation is temporary – as is life’. " Written by Elise Boyd in the link above.
On a positive note and a complete change to the sadness, here is what the city is doing that I really liked.. Shipping container shopping!
Shipping container bank!
All shipping containers.. impressive!
I think they've really organized this well and happy to see some hope here. Even the banks are using the shipping containers.. smart!!
None of us are really sure where this little girl's parents are at the shipping container shopping mall. She is basking for money. A lot of people are being really creative to earn some money. There is no question that is going to take YEARS to get Christchurch back on it's feet.
Back on the road, we venture out to see more. These shipping containers are doing the job of holding a hill up!
You can see why in the photo below!
The stadium. A centerpiece for most cities. Looking very modern and new but very closed.. So sad..
I've heard that getting windows, darn near everything is on a huge back order. Remember that New Zealand is an island, and not very large. Larger countries would have more resources quicker I would guess.
Carole keeps wanting me to sit in the front of the car. I keep saying no, that I'm happy to ride in the back of the car. It's kind of like being driven around with parents and I like it! But she demands I will see more from the front seat. The stand off begins. "No!" "Yes!" At the corner stop, Carole gets out of the car and refuses to get up until I go to the front seat. I locked the door and refused. (Poor Ross.. he's got 2 of us!! ;-) The cars are piling up behind us. She is clearly the tougher lady. I give in out of guilt for the waiting cars and go to the front. Score Carole!!
We contemplated the Whitebait sandwiches. Carole makes the best Whitebait, so we will leave her with the top status and pass these guys up.. haha..
Even the beach rocks are fenced off.. everything is fenced off!
My visit from Ross and Carole was over far too quick. They are heading back down South, but it was great to have them here! A really eye opening tour of Christchurch and I can only hope that everyone has found a way to either move or recover from the devastation quickly.
I'm going to be shipping my motorcycle from Christchurch to Melbourne Australia by sea. Australia has really strict import cleanliness rules, so I start the process of cleaning the bike with a toothbrush.. again! I just did this from Buenos Aires to New Zealand! I still feel really grateful for all the border crossings I did that didn't require Tony to be perfect and spotless! I do appreciate their reasons for this, it's just nice I didn't have to do it 49 times to 49 countries... only 2! ;-))
There is only a small window of warm sun during the winter days down here. And I'm not in a hurry, so I do a little bit each day.
After my nice walks with the dogs! How pretty is it here....
Firefighter Dave was up the next weekend visiting his friends in Rangiora and asked if I'd like to go check out the Antarctic Center. Sure! Dave has worked 3 times in Antarctica and has a real passion for it. He's worked for 2 countries even.. New Zealand AND the United States.
Replica of Scott Base in Antarctica
It's fun having Dave show me around because he's had personal experience with all these things. What a unique life!
They really want you to get a feel for Antarctica..and do so by offering an ice slide. ha! Froze my bum!
We were looking at the center's map and it shows the rest room locations. That's all good, but what's up with the sleeping or dead seal on the map?? ;-)
That was actually really cool. Unlike a museum, the Antarctic Center is a working center, where the scientists are completing studies or preparing for their next season. Super interesting and thanks Dave!
Back home and I take the dogs for another nice walk.. Sorry to be boring, but I like it and only a couple left before I start packing and moving on.
Poor little Spirit dog won't leave the fire.. so cold!
Down to the shop to pack up Tony. He's going be leaving before me as that ship will be a bit slow.
Tim, a very cool American KTM rider!!!! Helped me a lot to pack and crate the bike for which they kindly donated from a previous Kawasaki shipment. Obviously a bit smaller, but we made it work!
We just made it a full on American night in New Zealand. Hamburgers with lots of ketchup!! And I donated macaroni and cheese. They brought in the American beer and I was reminded why I never drink beer in America.. ick!! Haha.. It didn't take long for Tim and Sarah to drink the NZ beer I brought along. But it was fun that we could be totally American today.. Independence Day!!
Happy 4th of July!!!
American Invasion... New Zealand!! Ok, so it's a very tiny invasion, but we're here!! ;-)))
Great post, really interesting blog. Looking forward to reading more
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