After dropping our hand luggage and getting our suitcases we headed off on a stroll around Christchurch. What a change from my last visit! So very sad to see damage almost everywhere, but strange how on building would be totally demolished & the next still standing with minimal damage. The beautiful town square I loved is no longer. Our hotel is one of only a few Buildings standing & operating in central Christchurch because it is very new. Other buildings, shops are there but closed or fenced off because of the danger of collapse.
The really good part is the shipping containers which have been painted, decorated and made into shops, cafes, businesses etc. The really strange ones are the banks. We saw Bank of NZ, ANZ & Westpac all operating with ATM's from the containers. There are also lots of container gardens with beautiful flowers to brighten things up. In the time we wandered around there were lots of other tourists doing likewise.
I have taken lots of photos so will add some to this post.
After we came back to our room we enquired re somewhere to go for dinner as the hotel dining room was fully booked with another coach tour. We discovered that there are very few restaurants actually open for dinner in the vicinity (the container cafes only open during the day) so eventually found one quite a walk away. We were with 3 other couples from our tour and enjoyed a nice dinner and a few drinks. We discussed the reasoning of the tour company actually. Bringing us into Christchurch with no provision for the meal, especially as we will return to the same hotel for the last night of our tour in 1 week. It is obvious Christchurch needs tourism to survive through this difficult period of reconstruction, however depositing us in the centre of the city is probably not the best option, especially when there are very few resources around us.
I guess I have seen so much on the news etc, but one really can't take on the magnitude of this disaster until viewed with ones own eyes. This city has a long haul until it returns to normal.
More tomorrow :)
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