Tuesday, October 29th
We organized a guided tour of Christchurch for the best part of the day so we could see outer areas of the city and hear stories of the city's experiences and plans for the future. It was the right thing for us to do today!
Our driver and guide was very adept at manoeuvring his bus in the narrow remains of streets, between cones and temporary fences and over what he described as 'roly poly' roads - heaved and crumbled during the quakes. He encouraged questions about the 'quake' after explaining that people are no longer as sensitive about their ordeal as they had been.
Our first stop was a punt on the Avon River - how lovely and relaxing that was!
Then we went out to Lyttleton and up the gondola for a view of the harbour.
Here is part of the highway we drove to get to Lyttleton.
Note the shipping containers along the side of the road used to protect the road from rock and landslides.
Shipping containers are used to support parts of damaged buildings and as temporary offices, banks, shops and homes. Following our tour of the beautiful botanical gardens, Tina and I left the group in search of a bank. Once we found the area we were seeking, we were surprised to see that every shop, bank and restaurant in the area was created out of shipping containers of all sizes. Most have been operating out of these temporary buildings for 18 months and have no idea when construction on 'real' buildings will commence.
That was really interesting.
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