We arrived in Christchurch on 27th March. It was our final stop on the Exodus trip. On first impressions, Christchurch appears to be a city full of car parks.

This is a result of the opportunistic Mr Wilson utilising all the sites that have been cleared from the Feb 2011 earthquake and not yet redeveloped. The impacts of the earthquake are still very visible with some damaged buildings only just being demolished.

and others still waiting for action.

The worst damage was done to the Cathedral.

Six years on a decision has yet to be made on whether it will be repaired or demolished. In the meantime a transitional cathedral has been built – it is known as the Cardboard Cathedral.

It came about after one of the Cathedral staff saw an article on an “emergency architect” from Japan called Shigeru Ban. He had designed a cardboard church after the Kobe earthquake. He visited Christchurch and two years later this was built. It is primarily built of cardboard, local wood and steel. It sits on a polished concrete base, is designed to 130% of the current New Zealand earthquake code and is expected to last up to 50 years. Hopefully enough time for a new Cathedral to be built in Cathedral Square.

Other examples of innovative thinking brought about by the earthquake are the Re:START shopping mall which is constructed out of shipping containers.

And the many standalone shops created out of shipping containers and other creative spaces.

And sensible footwear for fridges!

Shipping containers full of concrete are also used to protect roads and paths from unstable buildings.

Generally the city is a massive building site.

The new buildings in the central business district (CBD) – which was the worst hit area of the city – are only just opening this year.

However the earthquake did not destroy everything and some buildings were not impacted.

Christchurch School survived with minor impact, mainly due to expensive building strengthening projects implemented beforehand, and students were back at school a month after the quake. We visited the school and looked around the impressive facilities.

The old City Tram has been revived as a tourist attraction.

The river Avon, which runs right through the city,  and the Botanical Gardens were also untouched.

A memorial to the 185 people killed in the earthquake has been built beside the river.

As a City that depends on tourism, there are other attractions outside the city centre such as the Gondola on Mount Cavendish.

It offers views over the City, Canterbury Plains and Southern Alps. Unfortunately the views north over the City were impeded by low clouds when I visited. I did get some good views south.

We stayed in The Pavilions, a family run hotel on the north west of the City.

We had our final group dinner there as well.

I stayed on an extra night after the Exodus tour finished and set off for Fiji on 1st April.

Happy Birthday Terry!