Christchurch Central

It's a weird feeling being here confronted with a city that's still pretty much a construction site in the city centre 5 years after the big earthquake in 2011 in which 185 people lost their lives. I went to a memorial site for those people (picture with white chairs), which is a temporary art installation. It was quite humbling to see all the empty chairs, to think about the destructive force of nature and how small and - yes - helpless we are in the face of it.

Christchurch is slowly being rebuilt and people are optimistically looking into the future. There is a pop up container shopping mall with lots of little independent eateries and shops. I hunted for a cash point for quite a while until I figured there are only 3 left and they are in pop up banks which don't come up on Google Maps 😊.

The botanical gardens are beautiful and a welcome change to all the construction sites. The city is also a canvas for all the street art artists who try to make their city as colourful as possible. Unfortunately some of the amazing graffiti is now being blocked by new buildings going up. You can't have both I guess.

I'm staying at the Chesters Backpackers Hostel: http://www.chesterst.co.nzLæs mere