2 years after the earthquake

Most of the time, Christchurch could be a million miles away from Stratford. Like most of the world, we heard about the killer earthquake and any other newsworthy bits on the telly. You don't think about it if you aren't involved with anything going on there.

My outlook on the broken city was changed a bit after our holiday. Hubby's mother's sister lives in Christchurch and we stayed with her a few days while we were there. Her house was undamaged, but, since the earthquake and some counselling, she has turned her back porch into her bedroom. She was a bit apologetic about it, but I'm really glad that she found a way to cope with the stress and fear that was caused by the February 2011 shake.

As we drove through the countryside noting the wonderfully beautiful scenery of the Canterbury area, we stopped to take pictures of the churches, as we always do when we are out. The fact that many of them are fenced off due to quake damage is a bit disheartening. They seem to be randomly damaged with no other buildings close by touched.

We didn't go downtown and look at the damage that's still there, but I'm glad to know that there are container malls doing business, which I think is incredibly creative. And there was still evidence of damage along the road to Sumner. 

Today, the mayor of Christchurch declared that the 'red' area (the central business district that was most damaged by the earthquake) is now to be called the 'rebuild' area. I think that's quite healthy because the determined citizens are doing their best to get back to 'normal'--whatever that is. Good on ya, Christchurch.