Turning on the Lights

Christchurch. September 2009. Ajr

Last weekend I roamed around central Christchurch with a friend for about four hours. It's something we do often, taking in the big and small changes in the cityscape, looking at window dressing design, checking out new products, laughing at billboards and advertising spaces, watching people, looking at artwork, visiting galleries and pausing here and there for coffee and snacks. All this, ostensibly, in the name of exercise. It's a ton of fun and, more often than not, a real education. I don't think nearly enough people roam about their own towns or cities - not with open eyes at least. The multiple layers of visual imagery, the architecture, the quirky surprises that come with people and places - all too often taken for granted and overlooked. I love that 'shining the light in dark corners.' It's how I come to know a place when I travel but just as much, it is how I come to know my own place. Oh....and this cafe? The Contemporary Lounge, upstairs in Ballantynes, where they really do know how to 'shine the light.'