Around the City
With over 350,000 people, Christchurch is the largest city on the Southern Island. Of course, that would be somewhat small compared to say Washington D.C. (650,000 people) or New York (a whopping 8 million people). Things are little different here in New Zealand.
The trolly that runs right through the city center of Christchurch.
It’s a busy city filled with cafes, parks, and many one-way streets (as we found out returning our rental car). The graffiti and murals on the sides of buildings add a certain spunk to city center.
A mural of penguins in Christchurch's city center.
Earthquake Memorial
As you may know, Christchurch experienced a major earthquake in February 2011.
Buildings collapsed, houses were destroyed, and above all, lives were lost. 185 lives, to be exact. An art installation in the middle of the city featured 185 white chairs as a memorial to those that lost their lives in the 2011 earthquake.
185 chairs representing the 185 people who died in the 2011 earthquake.
Each chair is unique – some tall, some short, some big, some small, some nice and straight, some more creative – just as each life lost in the earthquake was unique.
Art Gallery
From there we stopped in at the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Recreating some art at the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Who knew 0+0=0?
In all seriousness, there were some really cool exhibits there!
Changing Hats
Our New Zealand trip is now concluding. We sure have seen a lot of awesome places, from the waddling penguins in Oamaru to the crystal clear beaches in Able Tasman.
This map shows an overview of our whole trip. Each star represents a place we stayed (camping or at a bnb).
But now it’s time for me to hang up my tourist hat and put on my scientist hat. Tomorrow I go to the Clothing Distribution Center to pack up and the next day is my (tentatively) scheduled on-ice flight to McMurdo. The adventure continues…
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