Christchurch, last stop in New Zealand

Christchurch... It's the largest city in the South Island - second largest city in New Zealand (after Auckland). The Avon river runs through the middle of town and is simply lovely. Lots of houses used to built looking onto the river, most of which were damaged beyond repair in the earthquake (Feb. 2011 and June 2011). The city is deciding how to use this land, and hopefully it becomes more of a green space along the rivers edge.

The Canterbury museum is free http://www.canterburymuseum.com/ and has several displays of Maori art and other cultures that affected the colonization of New Zealand! It also has a little exhibit of Paua shells :)

The February earthquake measured 6.3 and killed 185 people, the photo of the white chairs is an art piece to commemorate those lost in the quake. It's called "185 empty chairs". The triangle building is a temporary cathedral being built to be used while reconstruction of the Christchurch cathedral occurs. The first photo is an example of the "box stores" that have been put up in the CBD made out of shipping containers. It's pretty cool - as many of the shops and cafes are multi level and different colours. There is a debate going on if these containers should be replaced with permanent structures.