After a few days exploring Auckland NZ, Shannon and I flew down to Christchurch on the south island to meet our REI adventure tour. We arrived the day before in order to be ready for an early start with our group next day; we used the few afternoon hours we had to explore the historic city center of Christchurch.
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| Christchurch Cathedral |
We knew that Christchurch had been hit hard by earthquakes several years before but to see the devastation first-hand was shocking for us. Entire blocks have been bulldozed flat. Construction cranes number in the dozens. Many standing walls are decorated with colorful artsy murals, sort of a jarring contrast. Elaborate bracing frames hold up many of the remaining historic brick and mortar structures. Many, many weedy vacant lots. I was reminded of what London must have looked like after the WWII Blitz -- minus the art.
As part of the recovery effort the so-called Cardboard Cathedral was erected.
Built from shipping containers and cardboard tubes with a translucent polycarbonate roof the unique new church sparked controversy. One critic called the design 'kitsch.'
As if to mock churchgoers, this sight greets you as you exit across the parking lots. How you gonna explain this to a wide-eyed Sunday School kid?
--------- One funny thing happened that day to show that Shannon and I had not wandered all that far from home, for all that our seven week sojourn would cover over 20,000 miles: while we waited at the bus stop outside our airport hotel a young couple of backpackers had walked up, Americans, and asked if this was where one caught the #29 bus for Downtown. Yes indeed, we said.
They were Robert and Kaylee from sunny Florida, excitedly starting out on a year-long round-the-world adventure. They have a blog. As we chatted and then rode the bus to downtown Christchurch, New Zealand, it came out that they had rented out their Florida house for the year to a person who hailed from ... you ready? -- from Durango, Colorado.
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