Thursday, 10 November 2011

Just some ducklings.



Ten little ones at the local park - growing so fast!

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Tourist Trap?



I spent the morning in Christchurch's Re-Start mall. Although most of the area has been renovated and re-opened, The Tap Room on the corner of Cashel Mall remains eerily untouched since February 22nd. I got goosebumps while peering through the window at the dust and half filled wine glasses. Then the cynic in me started wondering if it was a deliberate measure to allow the perfect photo opportunity for "quake-tourists"...

Friday, 4 November 2011

Mature-Age Student


I sat my first exam in five years today. It went fine. It was really cold in the exam room though (a church hall), which annoyed me and distracted me and I thought was a bit thoughtless of the organisers.

A man wearing an old brown suit and large-rimmed glasses gave us a talk beforehand on the usual stuff about cell phones and drink bottles and where the exits are. However, after he had pointed out the exits (which he said we were to leave by in the event of a large earthquake), he gave what is obviously an updated part of his spiel. He said "In the event of a small to moderate earthquake, a decision will be made as to how disruptive the quake is, and extra time allotted to the examination accordingly. This may be 5, 10 or 20 minutes, depending on how disruptive we deem it to be."

Fortunately this didn't eventuate.

ps. Photo of our neighbour's mental-as-anything pink flowers.

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Near Matt's work - before and after



Demolition is proceeding at a fast pace in the city. And for a gold coin, you can now take a bus ride around the carnage to see for yourself.