NZ and AUS, day 6: in which we walk a lot

 I may have overcompensated for yesterday’s sitting today.  Our first adventure of the day was a visit to Christchurch Art Gallery  which has some very spiffy art in a very spiffy building.  Here’s the building:

 

(Here is Brent, who does not love art museums, but does love me.)

 

They have two floors’ worth of art, including a gallery devoted to contemporary art by New Zealand artists, one of historical pieces, and one currently showing art by artists who have tended to be overlooked (usually because they were women and/or queer).  Here are two of the beautiful things I saw:

 

We paused for lunch, and, refreshed, headed for Quake City .  It was moving and disturbing to see and hear and read about the experience of the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and their aftermaths.  Here is some rebar distorted by the quakes:

 

On a lighter note, the entrance has a whole bunch of OWHs:

 

From there, we walked through the city.  Here is a bridge over the Avon, because I liked the railing and the shadow:

 

We arrived at the temporary cathedral, also known as the Cardboard Cathedral, and had a little look around.  Having just come from the earthquake museum and seeing the damage that was done to the old cathedral, it was poignant to see the way the congregation have been making the best of things in a very different but still beautiful space.  Here is a photo:

 

I had intended to do more things after that, but really, we were both pooped.  So we came back to the hotel and had a nice rest instead before a lovely dinner.