What a weekend its been here in New Zealand! I’m writing this following a massive earthquake on the South Island which has sadly reduced much of the city of Christchurch (Chch) to rubble. I was awoken in Wellington at 4.35 yesterday morning to feel the final moments of the quake. Very shortly after I went online to learn that it’s epicentre was down south.

I visited Chch in late 2008 for a weekend and really enjoyed my stay there. Its a pretty quite city with lots of very pretty old buildings. Sadly much of these bore the brunt of the quake as many new buildings are constructed to earthquake proof standards. Over the coming weeks, months and years we’ll see how Chch rebuilds itself from this event. The good news at least is that there have been no deaths there.

Here’s a photograph I took in Chch in 2008 of the Chalice Sculpture by Neil Dawson. I look forward to seeing it again sometime soon.