In February 2011 a cataclysmic 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand. Killing 165 people and devastating the central business district.
These photos were taken one year later and the CBD area was still fenced off and it was still forbidden to go into that area.
I don’t often take sad photos, I focus more on the beauty in this world, but Paula (Lost in translation) challenged us with the theme “forbidden”. It brought back into my memory these very sad photos of a beautiful city brought to its knees.
But I don’t like to finish on such a harrowing scene so I will show you the other side of the resilient Kiwi’s ingenuity.
This is also a year later, once the ground was cleared in this area, instead of waiting to rebuild, shipping containers were trucked in, painted bright, cheerful colours, shops were opened, coffee shops turned up, plants put along the street and into containers and business was resumed in the midst of all the devastation.
Way to go Kiwis, don’t you just love their spirit…
Here is the post I did when we visited Christchurch in 2012 https://pommepal.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/christchurch-new-zealand/
Memories are made of this 
The early photos almost demand b&w to match destruction. The last one with bright containers matches your optimistic view of the world and the human capacity for recovery.
You are right Meg the first ones would be even more dramatic in b & w. I love the Kiwi spirit and of course I have a family of them still over there…
Oh my, these are the kind of images you usually only see on tv news, it adds a whole new depth when they are taken by someone you know. Well done indeed to the Kiwis for picking up.
It took years for them to finish cleaning up. They were still having after shocks every day and couldn’t do much till it all settled down. this is the post I did of our visit https://pommepal.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/christchurch-new-zealand/
I remember seeing that on tv. Your images tell the story of the tragedy very well. The last one is lovely and reminded me of when we wanted to build a house of shipping containers (there’s a hotel in London made of them) and our architect thought we were mad. Planning permission would have been almost impossible because the planners were not very forward thinking, so we abandoned the idea. Well done Christchurch for being so inventive and open-minded.
A great way to recycle. What a pity the planners were stick in the mud when it came to creative vision.
I don’t know many Kiwis, but I love this spirit. It was a tragedy and without reading your text I would take it for a usual let’s pull down and build anew construction site. Thank you for coming back to my virtual life, Pauline. Really appreciated.
I have a family of Kiwis that live over there so I know the country well.
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Thank you for the link Paula.
Oh my that is so tragic. But to see the spirit here in those pictures all in such colour, of these people.
It took so long to get the repairs happening as the after shocks lasted for years.