A New City

Ten years ago our part of New Zealand was devastated by a series of earthquakes that upended the city and threw people's lives into chaos. Today marks the anniversary of the most devastating aftershock that killed 185 people and maimed and injured many more.  Living out of the city we experienced the quakes but were lucky to have only cosmetic damage to our house - unlike many people we know whose homes were damaged beyond repair. Both of our workplaces were damaged and lead to a change in employer for me and a change in location for my husband which all this time later is still in effect as decisions made about the location of a new workplace took a long time and now the build can only just begin.

The city is emerging from this series of events scarred but resilient with new building going on and exciting changes afoot. Christchurch is known as "the Garden City" and it has many wonderful trees and gardens which have mostly survived unscathed by Mother Nature. As the new buildings go up the existing trees help them to look already settled in and I enjoy the effect. The inner city has many new buildings opening with interesting architectural finishes and lane-ways in behind the buildings giving a lovely sense of places to explore.

While in between hospital appointments today, in preparation for my husband's surgery tomorrow, we wandered around parts of the city and saw things anew from different perspectives. This chair and ottoman, which are now in the Botanic Gardens, are one of my favourite earthquake memorials using pieces of broken china from the earthquake to make a thing of beauty. I love the aesthetic of this and what it represents and think once my life settles down I might like to make my own smaller version for my garden.

I hope that others who live in the city itself who have been more adversely affected by the earthquakes are feeling the same sense of anticipation and enjoying the new city that is emerging. The old city is gone forever and this is a shame with regards to some of the historical places lost however we can't go back so can only move forward and I am looking forward to the new city we will all get to enjoy. This emergence from the rubble is part of the healing journey and I hope it continues to be positive and vibrant and full of hope!