Out and about - Christchurch

Today i am in Christchurch for the annual 'National Lifelines Forum', this is where members from our energy, telecommunications, transportation and water sectors gather and discuss experiences/lessons etc from the past year. Obviously this year there are a lot of discussions on the Canterbury earthquakes and how each sector was damaged and dealt with the various challenges this presented.  GeoNet (including myself) will also be presenting tomorrow.

Going for a walk in the sun at lunchtime,  it was strange to see the beautiful buildings in various pieces, and the skyline full of large cranes, but nice to see the businesses still open - even if they had to move to quirky temporary sites.

One place that i was please to see open was the Canterbury museum, where I popped in to visit a friend, he kindly took me around and showed what little damage the museum sustained, thanks to extensive earthquake-proofing some years ago, i also got a sneak peek at an upcoming exhibit -  Hearts for Christchurch "which showcases an amazing array of more than 4,000 stitch-craft hearts from around the world. The project of an inspirational Napier woman, Evie Harris, who started creating and gathering the hearts after the February earthquake."

I then went to see the new 'container mall' at Cashel street, it is amazing and it was great to see so many people out enjoying the sun and shopping.
Pics below . . .

Cute Kia Kaha 'flower'

Arts Centre

Cashel St  'Container Mall'

Bridge of Remembrance