Down Under - 2/22/14 - Christchurch, New Zealand

We say farewell to Sydney knowing that we will be back yet again on this trip.  Up and early in the morning we say farewell to the Langham Hotel and head for the Sydney airport...I really hate getting up early but on this morning I'm glad we arrived 2 hours ahead of the flight as we needed it getting thru security.  Two of our party lost tiny knitting scissors, the TSA agent graphically demonstrating how these tiny scissors could be turned into stabbing instruments of terrorists mayhem!

The Qantas flight is actually a codeshare flight with Emerates Airlines on a Boeing 777.  It's quite slick with outstanding food selections, entertainment and seat to seat phones!  Why can't we have this service in the US?  It's a lengthy flight, roughly 3 hours, and we arrive at Christchurch, NZ and our driver takes us to the George Hotel.

Many people have told us that this is not a place to be since it got whacked by not one but two category 7-8 earthquakes.  It just so happens that today is actually the 3rd anniversary of the first quake and there are various ceremonies around the city.  http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Society/Disasters/Canterbury-Earthquakes/

We dump our bags and head on foot into the center of town.  Everywhere we walk we see signs of the massive destruction...building missing, blank lots, building braced and the closer we get to the center of town the more 7-10 story buildings that are simply empty with broken windows...abandoned and no doubt waiting to be demolished.  The entire city center seems unlivable and unworkable.  Yet there does seem to be hope here.  We have arrived in the middle of a flower festival and there are tons of flowers, plants and topiary everywhere.

We walk a few blocks outside of the central district to the site of the "cardboard cathedral" that was designed by a Japanese architect and constructed in large parts with cardboard! http://www.cardboardcathedral.org.nz/

Cardboard Cathedral

It's important to know that 100,000 of the pre-quake population of 400,000 simply left town after the quakes!

We march onwards in search of our dinner destination and after about an hour we arrive at our destination and have a delightful meal of appetizers...I am personally on a quest to eat calamari in every restaurant...it's a defining dish to me.

We hop a couple of cabs and mine strikes out as he is unfamiliar with the city and relies totally on the GPS!  To complicate things there is a gigantic Chines lantern festival all over the city with streets blocked wherever you turn.  We make it back.

They have built a new shopping center out of shipping containers...unique!

Empty buildings

An outside cafe made of pallets