I landed in Christchurch late that evening from Wellington. Today was the day that I was going to surprise my sister. She moved to Christchurch 10months ago and I hadn’t seen her since and she had no clue I was in New Zealand!

She was so shocked it took her ages to register the fact that I was actually there. The next day we walked around Christchurch together and it was beautiful even with all the construction going on

Cathedral

Together at Bridge of Remembrance

Earthquake History

For me it was quite hard to understand the magnitude of what happened here with the earthquake. I could see there was alot of damage and I knew it was a bad one but I just couldn’t grasp it. So I felt like I needed to learn a bit more about the history of Christchurch as I was there.

The following week I ran out of things to do and figured I’d check out the Cardboard Cathedral just to tick it off my list. Then maybe Quake City and stop off at 182 Chairs along the way. The Cardboard Cathedral was just beautiful. I loved it, the beautiful stained glass and the shape it was so cool.

Stained Glass inside the Cardboard Cathedral

Just behind the church was the 182 Chairs memorial. Here each chair was painted white and represents the individual. You were welcome to sit on any chair that drew you in…

182 Chairs Memorial

As soon as I walked over I saw the baby seat. Reading the memorial broke my heart even more and I couldn’t bare to sit down on anyone’s chair. Take a minute and scroll back up and look at some of the chairs, bar stools, office chairs, wheel chairs, school desk chairs and so many more. I was glad I bought some tissues today because I needed them after that. I almost debated if to forget Quake City and just go home but I didn’t.

Quake City was built to teach people about earthquakes and to explain what happened in Christchurch. It shows the history of the earthquakes in the area. It was very interesting indeed. Then I reached an hour long video of survivors recounting their stories of February 11th 2011, the day the big one hit. If you didn’t cry at some point you clearly have no soul. I think I sat there quietly crying to myself in the dark for the whole thing. The stories were intense and I could never imagine having to live through something like that.

It was an intense day but well worth it, as I walked back home I took in the city in a whole new light.

From Christchurch we were off to explore Queenstown and Dunedin on our epic road trip.

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