My gap year adventure: Christchurch day 2

I then booked a double decker bus tour around the red zone of Christchurch and the surrounding areas. There was a good commentary given by the bus driver which revealed how much the city has changed.

A lot of the buildings in the city that survived the earthquake still have to be taken down because they dont meet new building regulations. Some buildings e.g. The police department building are even leaning! No one is allowed anywhere near certain buildings and the city is going to spend billions of dollars on recreating the city centre of Christchurch. The proposed plans include creating various green spaces and an urban village! Many of these ideas were given to the council by the inhabitants of Christchurch when they were asked for their opinions on the recreation of the city centre.

Various historical buildings e.g. The main Anglican cathedral and the Roman Catholic cathedral have been near enough destroyed and are going to be either rebuilt or torn down. There is still some debate as to what to do with these two buildings.

I was then taken to Sumner and onto Mt Pleasant where I got some amazing views of Christchurch and the foothills of the southern alps.

Christchurch Anglican cathedral.

The "temporary" cardboard Anglican cathedral

Flooded foundations

Roman Catholic cathedral before the earthquake

And after the earthquake

Some buildings that weren't completely destroyed, such as the Catholic cathedral have got piles of metal shipping containers leaning on their weakened walls so as to prevent further collapse.

Some new buildings have horizontal wooden beams installed instead of just the normal concrete and steel beams. This is so that the building will flex in the event of another earthquake or aftershock.