I arrived at New Zealand in 1990 and spent the first two years in Christchurch studying and having a great time. Today I've uploaded some of the images from my old (real physical) photo albums to share. …
This page has four pictures of the four directions, all taken from top of the spire of the ChristChurch Cathedral at the heart of the city. I'm now a born again hard core Wellingtonian. But I loved the flatness and streamlined roads of Christchurch as a cyclist. I biked everywhere, even up the Port Hills and down to Sumner. Unfortunately I didn't take any cycling photo.
I used to live in Burwood and cycled along the Avon River to the Polytech. It was freezing cold in icy winter mornings, but beautiful and quiet.
Christchurch summer was packed with events. A friend of mine then was a Speights Coast to Coast groupie and I tagged along. My old photo album has this clourful spread of the scenes at the goal in Sumner beach. Steve Gurney won the 1991 event with a record-breaking time, which I don't quite remember. You can see I was already into collage making then.
AppealPlease help the people of Christchurch get through the 22 February Canterbury Quake Disaster by making donation at either: New Zealand Red Cross http://www.redcross.org.nz/donateOrNew Zealand Government Christchurch Earthquake Appeal http://www.christchurchearthquakeappeal.govt.nz/
Thank you for your prayers and kind words, Maria. The quake damages are truly devastating. But even the deadly quake cannot take away our cherished memories of this beautiful city.
What happened there is really terrible. Here in Melbourne we have been following the events.I want to give my moral support to all those who have been overtaken by events, reminding them in my prayers.I hope it gets a lot of help.
Christ Church seems to BE a wonderful fun-loving city, MM You'll see, it will all be rebuilt and something new will start. You can't visit the old Christ Church anymore, but yes it lives further in memories – such as in your album. I regret that I have "only" visited the North Island when I had been in New Zealand. I wish you all the best, and that you will soon see this terrible event as an unalterable fact and continue to live your life as happy as I met you the first time. :heart: You can not change anything from what has happened.
It is so gross what happened there.I'm very sorry.But the good memories can take us no! :up:
Thank you, Angelika. I'm glad I could show you at least a few shots of good old Christchurch. It is a shame you didn't visit there on your last NZ trip. There's always the next time. The government and tourism people want the overseas tourists coming back to enjoy the attractions outside the quake affected area, and to put money into the local economy. Not right now, but when things are settled.
Thank you, Steffi. It is so utterly unfair that Christchurch had to suffer those damages. But all we can do outside is to try support them as much as we can in each of our own ways. And sharing the good memories of Chch is one of my ways of supporting 🙂
New Zealand will observe a two minutes silence tomorrow Tuesday 1 March at 12.51 NZ Daylight Saving Time (23.51, 28 February UTC) as a sign of unity for the people of Canterbury.
Yes you are quite right, Christchurch WILL ALWAYS BE beautiful ! 🙂 . Thanks for this true sharing !Originally posted by wellisteffi:
:up:
Originally posted by arduinna:
:happy:There will be another post about the fun times I had in wider Canterbury and nearby regions. 😉
Thank you, Steffi 🙂
Natural disasters, accidents and illnesses are all unfair.When small children die, I always ask myself why would that be.We can not understand why God allows such things.But unfortunately this is, and we have to live.So it is good that you have beautiful memories that help one to think positively about the future.For it to come back even better and happier days.Even for the survivors in Christchurch and for you,MM. :up:
:yes: :cheers: 😉
Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:
You are right, MM, but in nearly 2 1/2 weeks I couldn't see everything I wanted to see, so we had decided to become acquainted only with the Northern part of NZ. After these 2 1/2 weeks in NZ we were still 2 weeks to Tahiti / Moorea. It was a special trip. Perhaps it would had been better to visit the Southern part of NZ, too. This is one of a million reasons to come back. :)I have read in "Spiegel Online" that there are over 14,000 registered earthquakes a year, about 20 of them have more 5-starch, because New Zealand lies between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plate. :eyes:
Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:
By the way – Your family has been worried very much about you?
Cheers Michal. Are you impressed by my 20 years old analogue collages? :DOriginally posted by 7Wellis:
:yes:Originally posted by 7Wellis:
Similar can be said about Japan.
Originally posted by 7Wellis:
My dad rang me on the day of the quake to check. He knew how far Wellington is from Christchurch and wasn't too worried. But he later told me my brother, nieces and relatives called him to ask if I was OK. 🙂
Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:
:yes: :yes: :hat: :wizard: 😎 😉
:happy: 😎
Originally posted by debplatt:
So we just live each day to full and make most of it ;)Alternatively we all work from home and make sure our houses are quake ready :DOriginally posted by debplatt:
There was a feature length TV scifi drama about the super-volcano. I think it's actually made by the BBC. :lol:[Addendum]yes, It was BBChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supervolcano_(docudrama)
I am glad that you have such special memories of your time in Christchurch. Originally posted by wellisteffi:
That's how I feel about these matters. They are just painful, and from our point of view they are random.There is a fault line toward the center of America called the "New Madrid fault line". In 1812 when the population density was quite low, and there weren't so many buildings, four earthquakes occurred that year, each estimated to be greater than 7.0 on the Richter scale. Apparently it is almost inevitable that we will have another big quake along that fault line. Since a big quake here is highly unusual, unlike California none of the buildings in the center of the U.S. have been engineered to withstand large quakes. So the loss of life and property damage would be almost inconceivable. Even worse things would be in store for us if the super volcano under Yosemite goes off. And just the other day I heard that the movement of the earth's magnetic poles has been accelerating (they think the north and south poles are getting ready to reverse). One article I was reading was suggesting that there is some chance that the earth's magnetic field might disappear for a while. :yikes: Even in cases where the consequences will be devastating, it is impossible for us to protect ourselves from everything.
If I could only find a tool for simulating analogue collages… 😉
And 4 — photograph or scan in the cardboard so that you can share your collage with your friends over the Internet. 😉
Easy:1. Get your pictures developed on paper (or print yourself)2. Get a pair of scissors, large piece of cardboard (or photoalbum page without sleeves) and glue3. Cut and paste! 😀
Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:
Originally posted by debplatt:
:yes: Originally posted by brunozbruna:
The news today tells us no bodies were found at the cathedral of the ChristChurch Cathedral, despite the earlier report of at least 22 trapped dead under the rubble of the collapsed spire.
These are wonderful news.
Yes. It feels like our spirits have been lifted a notch. 🙂
I was very pleased when I read it.
Also glad to hear it.
This is good news! :up:
Also now the authorities think the final death toll may be lower than estimated two days ago.The thought of rebuilding the church building at a site where people had died had darkened many people's mind, including myself. This news has lifted the shadow off our heart. 🙂
That is good news. Still a lot of recovering for everyone though.
Thank you, Mick. 🙂