Christchurch

Sculpture garden dedicated to people with dyslexia. Also evidence of the tendency down under (in both Australia and New Zealand) of dressing statues/sculptures.

The behind (and ample too!) view of a sculpture.

Teddy bears attempting to escape the Christmas rush!


The above 2 pics show the effects of the earthquake on a church. The tower was damaged and had to be removed for repair and the workers decorated it for Christmas!

This sculpture of an egg was uncracked before the earthquake.

The Our Father in English and Maori in the Cathedral.

Flying Archangels in the Cathedral - seemingly they fell during the earthquake but have been replaced.

At the time we were in Cathedral Square this is how long it was to the Rugby World Cup.

Playing chess in Cathedral Square.

The Cathedral Choristers during their Christmas recital.

The Cathedral.


We spent one day in Christchurch investigating the city and viewing the effects of the earthquake. When I was about to update things from Singapore on I realised that I had not recorded the sights of Christ church, so here goes!

A taxi from the airport hotel dropped us in Cathedral Square from where we hopped on to the very efficient and convenient hop on-hop off tram. The driver gave a running commentary pointing out landmarks and showing us evidence of the earthquake from which Christchurch is still experiencing after shocks. We returned to the Cathedral where we enjoyed the Cathedral's boy sopranos' Christmas recital. This was a real treat comparable to the Army Band's Remembrance Day recital that we happened on in Hobart.

Christchurch is full of sculptures and we noticed that many of them were dressed - we had noticed that in Sydney also. The most memorable sculptures were in the sculpture garden dedicated to people with dyslexia. There is a seat which talks to you when you sit on it and tells you the story of somebody (I've forgotten his name) who did lots of work highlighting the difficulties of dyslexics and set up a foundation for them. There is a sculpture of a young girl who has managed to enjoy reading despite her disability and a sculpture of a pair of shoes used to represent the founder of the foundation.

Our day in Christchurch was very satisfying as we visited museums, art galleries and a craft gallery as well as hopping on and off at various parks etc.