A GHOST OF A CITY: CHRISTCHURCH PICTURES
My Christchurch Music Playlist
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VIDEO LOGS & JOURNAL
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I named the pictures for Christchurch “A Ghost of a City” for a reason. The earthquakes had truly ravaged the city and nearly raised it to the ground. Over 150 people lost their lives and it was sad to see the downtown district still completely blocked off and demolished over a year later. One interesting result of this disaster was the city’s “Restart Program” Basically, they just got a shit ton of military/industrial connexes, spray painted them and created a small connex village of stores and coffee shops.
Christchurch is located on the east coast of the South island of New Zealand. It has recently been devastated by heavy earthquake activity and over 35,000 construction personnel were brought in to start rebuilding what was much of the city. Our B&B host put this in a very positive light but I wouldn't be as optimistic as him. Unfortunately, the earthquake happened more than a year ago and it didn't look like much improvement had been made. Some of the city's most famous landmarks like the church have been almost wholly destroyed. From a distance, crane after crane can be seen shooting out from the center city like strands of grass.
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We also enjoyed some of the best food we had during our trip here at a place recommended by our B&B host called Fiddlesticks. They had a great setting and featured professional quality cuisine. From the appetizer to the desert it was spectacular. The appetizer was listed as fish wings. Curious, I decided to give this oddly named entree a shot. I didn’t regret it. Ingeniously, they took fish fins and used them for the “bone” of the wing and wrapped fish meat around it when cooking. The result was amazing and had the same feel as eating a wing, very odd but perfectly cooked and seasoned.
How about some fish wings? Don't knock em until you've tried em.
I don’t quite remember my main meal but I do vividly remember desert which comprised of a poached pear, ice cream over chocolate truffle flakes and a small stuffed jelly doughnut. The ice cream looked exactly like a piece of cake and took us by surprise. It was one of the top three meals eaten in New Zealand.
The middle item isn't cake...its ice cream.
After having a extravagant lunch we decided to opt out for dinner and find a local supermarket. Besides our B&B had a full kitchen and my wife wanted to cook for me. I’m not gunna tell a woman she can’t cook for me, that would be crazy. So off we went to find a market. After walking about 2km we found one. I must say they had a few oddities on the shelves. Here’s one for you, sheep placenta cream. They even put a picture of a sheep on the box; is that even necessary? Overall it was a good evening in Christchurch. Before we knew it we were throwing our stuff in the car and heading north to Kaikoura.
Yep, sheep placenta....
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