We decided to make the most of one the few sunny days in December with an outing into Christchurch. Our route took us through Rakaia, where we saw the sculpture for Salmon World (which reminded us of the leaping trout statue in Taupo) and a couple of historic buildings. The small building on the left hand side of the photo was the bridge keeper's house – the longest bridge in New Zealand is just on the north side of Rakaia. The right-hand building in the photo is a 2-cell jailhouse. I guess the part-time constables didn't need an office, just a place to confine those who broke the law.
Once in Christchurch, we set about to punt on the Avon (i.e., ride a boat on the river Avon). It's similar to the gondolas in Venice except the water is shallow ... and clear. The punt sits right down on the water (it draws about 6 inches), so it was a bit of a struggle to get in and out. Once in the punt, you have a duck's eye view of activities on and near the water. Our punter (gondolier), Jesse, gave us a commentary as he rowed on the calm water. The Botanic Gardens line both sides of the river with a dazzling display of flowers and trees. We saw a sequoia that had been grown from a seed donated by the USA back in the 1860s. We also caught a glimpse of the Bandsmen Memorial that lets us all remember the New Zealand band members who died in WWI. Ducks were everywhere on the water ... and on the banks. Those on the water took it easy just swimming along, preening, or diving for food on the riverbed. Some ducks knew which folks on the bank had the free food and they swarmed them until the person left ... or the food ran out. We even saw a mom with three youngsters out for a swimming lesson. All in all, a great way to soak up the sun (thank goodness for sunscreen and hats!) and relax.
Then, we made our way to Cathedral Square. We had visited there a few times during our 2005 vacation. (We've posted some photos from 2005 for comparison.) Back then, the Square was always buzzing with activity, even though it was the middle of winter. We even saw a chess game with the oversize board and pieces on the Square. Now ... it's hard to describe the bleakness. The only folks that visit the Square now are stopping at the Memorial for the Cathedral. Some of the surrounding buildings, especially the Tourist Information Center, don't show appreciable damage and appear that they could be reopened. We're sure that there are structural cracks that don't show from the exterior. However, the damage to the Cathedral is right out in the open, clearly exhibiting how violent Nature can be. It's hard to believe there are some in Christchurch that want to repair the existing structure rather than rebuild. They cite the rebuilding in Dresden as an example of how severely damaged buildings can be repaired. What they fail to recognize is that there is an ongoing hazard from the earthquakes (I doubt there will be any bombings in Dresden similar to what destroyed the city in WWII) and that structures have to be built to withstand future occurrences.
We wound our way away from the Square and found some businesses that have employed cargo containers as surrogate buildings to keep their doors open. We wandered through "container city" in search of ice cream, but were again denied (Anna's always getting gypped out of ice cream on trip!). We did find a wahaika (carved wooden club) for Kent.
