Lunch in Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch around lunch time and the rain fell hard! Lonely Planet named Christchurch one of the top ten cities to visit in 2013.
As you all most likely know, Christchurch was hit by a devastating earthquake on Febrary 22, 2011 at 12:51 pm. The city was busy with people shopping and working and the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck a mere 10 km away. 24 seconds had passed and afterward the city was never the same. When all was said and done, the rebuild would cost $30 billion dollars, the third most expensive natural disaster to ever occur.

Fast forward to the end of April 2013 and you have Morgan and I, wide eyed and jaw dropped at the remaining work left to do. Most of the city center is still shut down to rebuilding, shops and restaurants have been permenantly shut down, and construction is down every road you turn.
We finally parked and walked to the pop up shipping container mall. This little section of the city was built immediately after the quake as a temporary center for famous shops, banks, and food stalls and it has remained two years later. It's colorful and you can feel the creative energy everywhere. Morgan endured in Indian food and I horsed into a bratwurst with spicy mustard.
We strolled the streets imagining the chaos and devastation of that day, wondering how we would feel if it was our city. We found ourselves deeply moved by the rejuvenation needed by its resilient citizens in order to piece back the city.

We soon moved on in an attempt to gain some km's before nightfall.