Christmas in Park Celebrated in Christchurch

In spite of the earthquake damage to their city, over 100,000 Christchurch residents flocked to the Christmas in the Park celebration on the evening of Saturday 26th November. It was a time of fun, excellent entertainment and hope and the crowd let their hair down and enjoyed themselves. Click here  for more details about the event.

Access to Christchurch Red Zone

Walkway to Cathedral Square Opened to the Public

CERA has initiated a walk through Cathedral Square with access from Colombo St. This is limited to 300 people per hour and will run weekends only starting 26th November and ending 11th December. Click here for full details on the walk way and times.

Magnitude 7.1 & 6.3 - Earthquake Book Available on Kindle

Magnitude 7.1 & 6.3 is now available in Kindle format for only $4.99. The book is a compilation of people's experiences of the ongoing earthquakes and aftershocks in Christchurch and Canterbury. The stories reveal the level of trauma and fear that children and adults felt - but also reflect hope and resilience. There are even a couple of humorous stories such as the one where a lady was having her hair coloured in a salon when the February 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck. She reported that the water was cut off by the shake and by the time she reached home, her hair had turned the colour of Bob Parker's famous jacket!

Click here to order a Kindle version or email debbieroome@gmail.com to buy a print version for NZ$20.

More information on the book can be found here.

The Deconsecration of Earthquake-Damaged Christchurch Cathedral

On Wednesday 9th November 2011, a service was held in Cathedral Square to deconsecrate Christchurch Cathedral. This was in response to the pending controlled demolition of the church. The Cathedral is in the restricted red zone and invited guests and the media were taken in on buses. A roll call was taken to ensure that no one was left behind and people were given a saftey briefing of what to do in case of an earthquake occurring. Click here to read about the service and how people felt about seeing the devastated cathedral for the first time.

Red Zone Bus Tours in Christchurch 2011

Saturday 5th November 2011 was the day that Christchurch residents finally had the opportunity to see the earthquake-damaged centre of their city. This was through the Red Zone bus tours organised by Cera. The bus tours will be operating over weekends with buses running every ten minutes. A gold coin donation is requested and passengers are made aware that they are entering a dangerous area and further aftershocks and building collapse could result in their death.

Over 7000 people booked trips in the first four days and those on the first bus to go through the city said it was healing to see the damage with their own eyes. "It is hard to comprehend the scale of destruction until you've seen it firsthand." Click here for more information on the Red Zone tours and here for a description of the first bus ride through the city.