Chistchurch Cathedral

Chistchurch Cathedral stands in Cathedral square in the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 but I stood before it in 2015 in ruins. I visited shortly after the 4 year anniversary of the earthquake that destroyed most of Christchurch and the day that the beautiful church spire crumbled to the ground after years of earthquake damage. I took a photograph of a poster on the wall showing the cathedral in its former glory for comparison to the current church now standing without its tower, east wall and stained glass windows. Initially the decision was made to demolish the church with the intension of starting from scratch. However this was opposed and now all plans to demolish the cathedral are on hold as most people seem to be in favour of restoring it.

The rest of Chrischurch seems to be doing a great job of starting to rebuild itself. However most of the red zone is still derelict, frozen in time with the posters& signs from pre-2011 still hanging in the window. Office blocks and flats with blinds and balcony furniture gathering dust as owners were never allowed to return to the unsafe structures. The people of Christchurch appear positive and the re-start mall was bustling with bussiness. I visited Quake city, a museum with photographs and films documenting people's experiences during and after the earthquakes. Some people told me that Christchurch would not be worth visiting but they were wrong.

Here I am at my 365th blip!! Since I was in New Zealand for several weeks without internet, I've needed time catch up with uploading my holiday photos and so have reached the big 3-6-5 in a topsy-turvey manner. Regardless of that, I've enjoyed recording my year with a photo a day and receiving comments from people about them. Hopefully blip will survive and I can enjoy the next 365 days of blipping :)