Waitangi Weekend

Waitangi Weekend commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is observed as a public holiday each year in February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840.    Everything is closed and people are in holiday mood.    We are going north (right into the earthquake zone b.t.w.) with Deborah and Kevin to look around.    Kaikora - where we have visited previously - took the brunt of the November quake, and it's not so long since it became accessible once more.   
This image is Somner, an up-market area of Christchurch, on a lovely afternoon today.


Extra:   In the Red Zone!   The tarmac is still there, the lampposts - if a bit shoogly - but the houses are all gone over a surprisingly large area of East Christchurch.  The area is declared unsuitable for building after the 2011 earthquakes. All buildings in the area had to be either removed or demolished.   Liquefaction and instability mean that it will likely never support housing again.