This morning Ian gave us a lift into town as he and his fiancée were off to sort out their wedding photographs. The first things we noticed were the cranes,the empty plots of land and buildings boarded up awaiting restoration. The earthquake a couple of years ago really did a lot of damage,iconic buildings disappeared in a second. Our first stop was a shopping mall made of shipping containers and a delicious cup of coffee,the next door pizza place was earmarked for dinner as it came highly recommended by Ian. We bought the obligatory fridge magnet and some merino socks from the market stalls set up here but more importantly Kate bought a weatherproof warm jacket from Kathmandu who have a couple of containers for themselves. Around the corner was Ballantynes,an old established department store that managed to carry on even though not all the original property is safe with a doorway blocked. However it and the shipping containers do bring people into the centre to admire the buildings that are left and show that the locals are not giving up. The once iconic cathedral stands all forlorn as it's future is still to be decided but we did get to see the cardboard cathedral that is the temporary centre for worship. Some buildings have street art on exposed walls and impromptu gardens have been created. However some things remain untouched by time,there is still punting from the historic boat sheds,the botanic gardens are an oasis in the city centre and the Canterbury museum provides an interesting collection of indigenous and early settlers artefacts. On our walk home we passed a beer library,books and beer on sale so we bought some beer from the local brewery in Christchurch.