Spring in North Canterbury

Dogwood

In Pink

Dogwood

In White

"Spring is sooner recognised by plants than men."

Chinese proverb

"Of course everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colours, there would be an unbelievable shrieking in the heart of the night."

Rainer Maria Rilke

Welcome to Christchurch

Welcome to Christchurch - the Copthorne Hotel, welcoming guests since ages ago

Advancing like an ancient dinosaur

Ninja - Ready for anything in Christchurch

History in the Making

Barbie - and the night out that went very, very wrong

The Way Things Used to Be

Every so often, in an idle moment, I scan through my digital photo files peering at old photos of Christchurch.

Old being pre-September 2010, before the 7.1 earthquake struck that is.

I'm always amazed by how much I have already forgotten, just three years on.

I took these photographs inside Christchurch Cathedral in the Square.

And as we all know, the Cathedral now sits in ruins - towers broken, steeple gone, roof collapsing, mould growing over the stone exterior, pigeons pooping through the interior.

It's a pale, sad shadow of what it used to be, of what you see here.

I'm not a religious person but I am very fond of church architecture and I often went into this cathedral - and, to my mind, the even more spectacular Catholic Basilica -  just to sit and watch and listen and contemplate.

Some of my favourite views are those minus people, or, as in this case, just a hint, a shadow of others.

(I've noticed that most of my photographs are either of people, or places - seldom both in one shot).

The famous rose window.

In storage somewhere now  (I think).

And with the choristers practising for the annual Christmas performance.

This year I guess they'll give us a tune in Shigeru Ban's Cardboard Cathedral - a very nice temporary replacement.

Same view, different day, different year and fewer people.

And the exterior view that dons a thousand (at least) tourist books.

I used to take this view so much for granted.

I take very little for granted any more.

Christchurch in Eight Verticals

Spring Green

Memorial Stones

Unauthorised Vehicles

Bart Simpson

Empty Shell

Danger Construction

Bird Roost

Afternoon Light

Under the Umbrella

Something about this image has haunted me since I took it in central Christchurch last week.

I watched this old couple walk up to the wire cordon, their faces bleak and pressed against the wire.

I wondered about the memories they had of their city and how they saw it now, post-earthquakes.

It was a grey day, filled with drizzle and cloud. 

The sort of day that always stirs my thoughts.

"Come along my dear, we must get out of this weather," he said to her.

She looked at him with a sad smile and together, they turned away from the fence

And walked toward another.

Umbrella raised.